Ibbenbüren coal mine

Coal-mining company RAG owns and operates Germany’s last two coal mines and records around 1.5 billion euros in annual sales. It employs 12,000 people, of which more than three quarters work in its mining division, which is scheduled to be wound down in 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 upkeep of shafts and tunnels to keep them from collapsing. This task will be financed by RAG’s owner, the RAG Trust, which draws its means from a two-thirds stake in Evonik, one of Germany’s larger chemical companies.

• Further reading: CLEW factsheets Coal in Germany and When will Germany finally ditch coal?
• CLEW research tour: Decarbonising Europe’s industrial heartland
• Date of publication: July 2016