RWE suffered damage after the floods in western Germany

The electricity supplier RWE suffered damage after the floods in western Germany, which can reach a mid-double-digit million euro amount. The Inden opencast mine and the connected Weisweiler power plant were severely affected by the flooding, said RWE. On Thursday morning the Inde overflowed its banks, flooded a dike near Lamersdorf and then penetrated the open-cast mine. According to RWE, the situation has now stabilized. The power generation of the Weisweiler power plant runs with reduced output. The 300 MW units are currently being supplied via the coal reserves, the 600 MW units are currently at a standstill. The opencast mine is to be put back into operation with a phased concept. How long it will take until the operation of the opencast mine and electricity generation at the Weisweiler site are fully restored is currently being determined. The run-of-river power plants operated by RWE in the Eifel, on the Moselle, Saar and Ruhr are also struggling with the consequences of the flood, according to the company. With the exception of the Baldeney and Unkelmühle plants, all are currently out of operation. This also applies to the hydropower plant in Linne, the Netherlands. The energy company has meanwhile given up on the search for an employee who was swept away by masses of water in the Inden opencast mine, as announced on Friday. All efforts to find the 58-year-old were "unfortunately unsuccessful". Presumably, it can no longer be assumed that the employee will still be found alive. On Thursday and Friday, the missing person was searched for hours with the help of drones, a police helicopter, a dog squadron and a search boat. In the coming days, attempts will continue to be made to rescue the employee. RWE was "deeply shocked by the tragic events". All those involved had "done what they could" to find the missing colleague, explained Lars Kulik, member of the lignite board at RWE Power.