New delays at coal plant trigger Uniper profit drop

New problems at its Datteln 4 hard-coal power plant have caused a hefty impairment charge at German fossil power generator Uniper. First quarter adjusted EBIT was 350 million euros, down from 514 million euros in the same period a year earlier, the company said in a press release. According to a Reuters report, commissioning of Datteln 4 is “effectively delayed to summer 2020, nine years after it was supposed to enter service”. Datteln 4 is probably the last large coal power plant entering service in Germany, following the start-up of Vattenfall’s Moorburg plant in Hamburg 2014, according to manager magazine. About half of Uniper is owned by German energy company E.ON.

Find the Uniper press release in English here.

Read the Reuters report in English here and the manager magazine article in German here.