The question many are asking is, what is the long-term plan for Germany's second-biggest utility as it struggles to come to terms with a domestic and global market in which renewables are seen as the future and fossil fuels the past?

News that RWE will invest €1bn ($1.18bn) in Innogy for the 2015-17 period, down from around the same sum annually in the preceding years, actually delays the cut by a year compared to previous announcements.

Ongoing