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RWE feels pinch from solar energy

ESSEN, Germany, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- German energy company RWE said Wednesday it was cutting back on oil and natural gas power because of the increase in the use of renewable energy.

The utility company said some of its gas- and coal-fired power plants were no longer profitable to operate because of "the continuing boom in solar energy." It decided Wednesday it would take more than 3,000 megawatts of power generation off the German and Dutch electricity grids as a result.

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"Further power stations are being assessed and all options to improve the company's economic efficiency are being explored," the company said in a statement.

Rival utility company E.ON made a similar announcement early this week. RWE said Wednesday its profits from power generation fell by more than 50 percent during the first half of the year.

"Persistently low prices on the electricity markets are placing burdens on the entire energy sector, and thus also on RWE," the company said.

RWE said it produced 111.3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in the first half of 2013, 1 percent less than the same period last year.

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