“How to cope with the Energiewende”

Peter Terium and Johannes Teyssen, former CEOs of Germany’s traditional utilities RWE and E.ON respectively, face each other in a new green energy rivalry after both companies split in two last year, writes Helmut Bünder in a portrait of both men in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Teyssen heads the “new” E.ON focussed on renewables, while Terium is the head of RWE renewable spin-off innogy. But it is not quite true that two former advocates of dirty nuclear and coal power now want to head into the clean world of wind and solar power, writes Bünder. The new E.ON had to keep some nuclear power stations, while both managers also agree that coal and gas will remain essential for many years to come.

For background, read the CLEW factsheets RWE’s plans for new renewable subsidiary and E.ON shareholders ratify energy giant’s split.