RWE share price falls in light of potential Green government participation

The prospect of a new government coalition in Germany that would include the Green Party resulted in a drop in utility RWE’s share price of more than five percent on Monday, making the energy company that operates many coal-fired power plants the biggest loser in the German stock index DAX on day one after Sunday’s elections, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. A so-called Jamaica-coalition, which bears the name due to the party colours of its potential members CDU/CSU, FDP and Green Party, is seen as a threat to the German coal industry by shareholders due the Green Party’s aim to phase out coal fired power production in the country by 2030. Stock prices of renewable energy companies, such as wind power turbine manufacturer Nordex, were on the rise on Monday.
News agency Reuters reports that the Green’s aim of banning new cars with combustion engines by 2030 also put share prices of carmakers under pressure, with BMW and supplier Continental incurring minor losses of up to 0.4 percent. However, Reuters adds that the Greens' plans for the car industry are far less likely to be implemented than those for coal.

Read the Reuters article in English here.

See the CLEW article Weakened Merkel set to seek coalition talks with Greens, FDP and the factsheet German parties’ energy & climate policy positions for background.

Also see the CLEW dossier on Utilities and the energy transition for more information.