All three recorded declines in 2013 net income, with E.ON reporting a drop of 4% year on year and EnBW a 90% drop. RWE brought up the rear with a whopping €2.8bn ($3.9bn) loss, its first for 60 years — albeit after a €4.8bn asset impairment charge, mostly on its traditional generation businesses.

The common theme for all was falling profitability in fossil-fuel generation businesses, caused by a combination of weak demand, low electricity prices and underutilised peaking and baseload assets, exacerbated by the arrival on the scene of variable renewables electricity with priority grid access.

Some