German energy giant RWE will soon find itself in a unique position in the European power industry — a major renewables player that is actively fighting for coal.

At a time when the European electricity industry is working towards becoming carbon-neutral, RWE is something of an outlier. It clearly sees the profits that can be made from renewables, but has so many coal-fired power plants that Germany’s plans to phase out the fossil fuel by 2038 will be damaging to the company.