RWE Ag established a “Corporate Responsibility Stakeholder Council” (in 2014) of International experts representing a broad range of stakeholder backgrounds “literally opening the company’s doors and allowing the outside world in: making stakeholders part of discussions about the challenges RWE faces, entering into dialogue with them.” Extracts from the RWE Ag, Germany and Neyveli, India web pages are attached as separate doenloads..
Taking Worldwide, Rhenish recultivation is deemed exemplary not just among experts – and it is steadily further developed. A lease covering the Roddergrube mine near Brühl dating from 1766 demonstrates that, even then, former mining areas had to be replanted. Since then, the recultivation of opencast mining surfaces has been inseparably linked with lignite extraction. The methods used in recultivation schemes have evolved steadily up a long learning curve. Down the decades, they have been adjusted to meet changing objectives and include new scientific findings. Today, the results obtained are deemed exemplary worldwide, not just among experts. The learning is ongoing. Scientific studies by university institutes accompany the recultivation schemes to benefit the work on the new landscape. At Jüchen, RWE Power has set up a research unit for recultivation. It serves scientists as a port of call, offering a library and laboratory for their studies (www.forschungsstellerekultivierung.de). International specialists have attended two recultivation congresses so far at the invitation of RWE to exchange news and views. High-quality recultivation is important because the lignite industry depends on good neighbourly relations with the people in the region. But it is also indispensable because the new landscape must offer a substitute and an offset, not only tempor- arily, but on a sustainable long-term basis – as living and economic space for many generations to come. Rhenish opencast mines have used about 290 square kilometres of land so far. Of this, some 200 square kilometres have been rehabilitated, including a good 103 square kilometres of arable land, 77 square kilometres of forests, and 20 square kilometres of water and other surfaces. Rhenish lignite mining area A 46 Grevenbroich Operational areas Former operational areas under recultivation Recultivated arable land Recultivated forest areas Garzweiler II Garzweiler I Neurath Niederaußem Pulheim A 1 Water surfaces Resettlement Lignite upgrading plants Lignite-fired power plants A 44 höhe Bedburg Fortuna-Nord A 61 Bergheim Cologne Approved mining boundaries Jülich Frechen Inden Weisweiler A 4 Hürth Ville/Berrenrath Goldenberg- Werk Brühl
The medieval small town of Alt-Kaster, a district in Bedburg with many listed buildings, used to be surrounded on three sides by an opencast mine. Today, it is located in the middle of an extensive recultivated area which is marked by the Mühlen- erft river and Kasterer See lake. A lake is also the highlight in the new, open landscape of the former Frechen opencast mine. The recultivated land of the former dorf opencast mine is situated along the ”Energy Route”, which was set up by Rhein-Erft county and RWE Power. The landscaped lake Peringsmaar and the Wiedenfelder Höhe heights are two stops on this stretch for cycling or motoring tourists, starting at RWE Power’s information centre Schloss Paffendorf. Touring maps are available there: phone +49/221/480-22010. Further to the south is the forest/lake district which, all the way into the 1970s, had still been one of the focuses of Rhenish lignite mining. This lake district forms part of the nature reserve and offers ample space for water sports, rambling and cycle tours – a local recreation area par excel- lence right on the doorstep of the major cities Cologne and Bonn. Hiking maps are obtainable from the book trade and from RWE Power. 13