London (Platts)--24Jan2013/749 am EST/1249 GMT
Vattenfall's German lignite mines increased their output last year to the highest level since 1993, while lignite-fired power output reached its highest level since the end of communism in East Germany, the German unit of the Swedish state-owned utility said in a statement. Vattenfall Europe Mining AG, which owns and operates open-pit lignite mines in Eastern Germany, increased its 2012 output to 62.4 million mt from 60 million mt in 2011, it said. Electricity output from Vattenfall's lignite-fired power plants in Eastern Germany increased to 55 TWh in 2012, the highest since the political changes in Eastern Germany, it said. "Out lignite-fired power plants now produce almost a tenth of all electricity consumed in Germany and have shown again that they can be an active partner of renewable energies, balancing their volatile output, helping to stabilize the grid," according to the head of Vattenfall Europe Mining and Vattenfall Europe Generation, Hartmuth Zeiss. Article continues below...Platts 7th Annual Central & Eastern European Power Conference31 Jan - 1 Feb 2013, Prague, Czech RepublicThis industry leading event will once again gather senior level representatives from the region's leading power producers, power plant developers, regulators, traders, financiers and market analysts to discuss the latest trends and developments in the power generation sector in Central and Eastern Europe.
Vattenfall's German lignite mines increased their output last year to the highest level since 1993, while lignite-fired power output reached its highest level since the end of communism in East Germany, the German unit of the Swedish state-owned utility said in a statement. Vattenfall Europe Mining AG, which owns and operates open-pit lignite mines in Eastern Germany, increased its 2012 output to 62.4 million mt from 60 million mt in 2011, it said. Electricity output from Vattenfall's lignite-fired power plants in Eastern Germany increased to 55 TWh in 2012, the highest since the political changes in Eastern Germany, it said. "Out lignite-fired power plants now produce almost a tenth of all electricity consumed in Germany and have shown again that they can be an active partner of renewable energies, balancing their volatile output, helping to stabilize the grid," according to the head of Vattenfall Europe Mining and Vattenfall Europe Generation, Hartmuth Zeiss.
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This industry leading event will once again gather senior level representatives from the region's leading power producers, power plant developers, regulators, traders, financiers and market analysts to discuss the latest trends and developments in the power generation sector in Central and Eastern Europe.
The former East German lignite-mining operations were privatized in 1994 to a consortium of various German utilities, but Vattenfall gained majority ownership in 2000 after RWE and E.ON had to sell their shares to comply with EU requirements concerning other mergers. Lignite-fired power was Germany's single biggest source of electricity in 2012 with a share of 25.6% and has become much more profitable since the crash in EUA carbon allowances. --Andreas Franke, andreas_franke@platts.com--Edited by James Leech, james_leech@platts.com
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