RWE AG

RWE AG

Company type	Stock corporation
Industry	Energy supply
Founded	1898
Key people	Markus Krebber (CEO) * Michael Müller (CFO) * Katja van Doren * Werner Brandt (Supervisory Board Chair)
Revenue	€24.2 billion (2024)
Number of employees	20,985 (31 Dec 2024)
Website	www.rwe.com

RWE AG (until 1990 Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG), headquartered in Essen, is a publicly traded energy supply company. At times it was Germany’s second-largest supplier by revenue and is one of the “Big Four” energy providers. After acquiring Essent, it is a leading supplier in the Netherlands and also operates in markets such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Eastern Europe, Turkey, the United States, and Taiwan.

History

Until 2000

RWE was founded in 1898 as the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG in Essen. Under Hugo Stinnes, it expanded rapidly by generating electricity from locally sourced coal and smoothing peak loads across its power plants. By 1914, municipalities had financed and taken stakes in the company, making RWE one of the largest electricity suppliers in the German Empire. In 1914, it also began lignite-fired generation at the Goldenberg power station.

After World War I, RWE built a high-voltage north–south interconnection to balance hydropower and lignite generation, and in 1927–29 its service area was legally defined, later codified in the 1935 Energy Industry Act. With rearmament in the 1930s, RWE’s oversized plants became fully utilized. On 1 May 1933, the entire executive board joined the Nazi Party.

In late 1943, technical director Wilhelm Ricken was arrested for “undermining military strength” after reporting that “this war will end like 1918.” He was executed by the People’s Court on 2 May 1944; a memorial cobblestone in Essen commemorates his fate.

After Germany’s postwar division, RWE became West Germany’s largest energy supplier. In 1974, it commissioned the Biblis A nuclear plant. Environmental concerns over sulfur dioxide emissions from lignite plants arose in the 1980s. By 1990, RWE’s businesses spanned power, mining, oil & chemicals, waste management, and engineering. That year, it acquired most East German utilities (later adjusted by the Federal Constitutional Court). In the late 1990s, RWE also operated RWE Telliance in telecommunications.

Since 2000

In 2000, RWE merged with Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke Westfalen (VEW) and bought out municipal shareholders’ preemption rights. It then divested non-core stakes in companies like Hochtief and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen.

In 2004–06, RWE sold its water businesses (RWE Thames Water in the UK and American Water), focusing on power and gas in Germany, the UK, Benelux, and Central/Eastern Europe. It also exited waste via the 2004 sale of RWE Environmental to Remondis and spun off its UK water arm in 2006. American Water listed in April 2008. RWE created a Midstream division to coordinate gas procurement, transport, and storage.

In January 2009, RWE announced plans to acquire Netherlands’ Essent, approved by the European Commission in June 2009. Closing was delayed until September 2009 over Borssele nuclear plant governance; RWE took economic ownership but public shareholders retained control.

In December 2015, RWE announced a major restructuring to spin off renewables, grids, and retail into a new company, Innogy, targeting an IPO or sale and capital increase.

Nuclear phase-out

Under CEO Jürgen Großmann, RWE supported life-extension of nuclear plants. After Fukushima, Germany reversed those extensions in 2011. RWE sued to keep Biblis reactors operating; courts ruled in its favor, and RWE later sued Hesse and the federal government for lost profits.

Under CEO Peter Terium (2012–16), RWE withdrew from new nuclear projects and refocused on renewables and solar, joining the Desertec Foundation (most members exited in 2014).

In 2015, media reports questioned whether RWE’s nuclear decommissioning provisions were adequate; RWE maintained sufficiency of its reserves. CEO Terium warned that further burdens such as a coal levy could jeopardize funds for decommissioning.

Coal phase-out

RWE opposed an early coal exit, warning of “structural breaks.” It advocated capacity payments for retiring brown coal plants. In 2015, the government instead retired several coal blocks into “safety standby,” compensating RWE, E.ON, and MIBRAG with €1.6 billion.

A Greenpeace-commissioned DIW study in 2020 recommended limiting German lignite to 280 million tonnes; RWE projected 630 million tonnes in May 2020. In November 2021, following elections and COP26, RWE accelerated its renewables pivot; CEO Markus Krebber did not rule out an early coal exit.

RWE dropped a 2023 lawsuit against the Netherlands over its planned 2030 coal phase-out.

Organization

Business divisions

RWE’s operations are organized into six segments:

• RWE Renewables Europe & Australia GmbH – Onshore renewables in Europe & Australia, Essen
• RWE Offshore Wind GmbH – Offshore wind in Europe, Americas & Asia, Essen
• RWE Clean Energy, LLC – Onshore renewables in USA, Mexico, Chile, Austin
• RWE Generation SE – Gas, coal, hydro, biomass generation, Essen
• RWE Power AG – Brown coal & nuclear generation, Cologne
• RWE Supply & Trading GmbH – Procurement, trading, optimization, direct marketing & emissions trading, Essen

Management

Since May 2021, the Executive Board comprises CEO Markus Krebber, CFO Michael Müller, and CHRO Katja van Doren. The 20-member Supervisory Board is chaired by Werner Brandt, with Ralf Sikorski as deputy.

Shares and shareholders

RWE’s share capital consists of approximately 744 million common shares. In June 2019, preference shares were converted into common shares; RWE has been in the DAX since 1988. Dortmund’s 4.8 % stake is locked; nearly 80 other municipalities hold shares via two local shareholder associations, now unified under the Municipal Shareholders Association (VKA) Rheinland with ~23 % total.

In 2022, RWE issued a €2.5 billion mandatory convertible bond to finance its acquisition of Con Edison Clean Energy, underwritten by Qatar Holding. After conversion, Qatar Investment Authority became RWE’s largest shareholder.

As of 19 Mar 2023, major disclosed holdings were:

Share	Holder
9.09 %	Qatar Investment Authority
6.73 %	BlackRock
4.79 %	City of Dortmund
3.10 %	Amundi

Corporate culture

RWE’s culture, rooted in Rhineland mining and co-determination, is consensus-oriented and bureaucratic. Municipal influence is institutionalized via regional advisory boards whose members receive €6,650–7,400 annually, criticized as “legalized corruption.” Compensation must now be remitted following a 2011 court ruling. Past controversies include payments and free electricity to local politicians (the “RWE affair”). Lobbyists hold Bundestag passes via SPD affiliation.

Literature

• Helmut Maier (ed.): 100 Years of RWE History 1898–1998, TU Freiberg, 1999.
• Hans Pohl: From Municipal Utility to Large Electricity Company, Steiner, 1998.
• Lutz Mez, Rainer Osnowski: RWE – A Giant with Influence, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1996.
• Thomas P. Hughes: Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society 1880–1930, Johns Hopkins, 1983.
• Gerald D. Feldman: Hugo Stinnes: Biography of an Industrialist, Beck, 1998.
• Dieter Schweer, Wolf Thieme (eds.): RWE – A Transparent Giant, Gabler, 1998.

External links

• Official website: http://www.rwe.com/
• Energy-Chronik: RWE link list
• WDR documentary “RWE and the Bitter Side of the Energy Transition” (44 min)
• n-tv interview: “RWE Renewables CEO on the Green Transformation,” 18 Aug 2023