Coal-mining company RAG owns and operates Germany’s last two coal mines in Ibbenbüren and in Bottrop. RAG records around 1.5 billion euros in annual sales and employs 12,000 people, more three-quarters of whom work in its mining division, scheduled to be wound down in late 2018 when state coal subsidies end. Once mining operations close, RAG, formerly known as Ruhrkohle AG, will take responsibility for the long-term liabilities of the sector, including the upkeep of shafts and tunnels to prevent them from collapsing. This task will be financed by RAG’s owner, the RAG Trust, which draws its funds from a two-thirds stake in Evonik, one of Germany’s biggest chemical companies. In order to perpetually finance the mining costs, the RAG Trust will use the profits from Evonik, despite the chemicals part of Evonik being separate from RAG’s coal division.

• Further reading: RAG website (in German): http://www.rag.de, CLEW factsheet Coal in Germany
• CLEW reseach tour: The Energiewende - Decarbonising Europe’s industrial heartland
• Date of publication: July 2016