Pursuits
Billionaire Neighbors Clasp Dirty Fuel Shunned by Angela Merkel
- Vattenfall under pressure to sell lignite assets by June
- Germany balancing emissions goal with need for energy security
Giant excavators operate at Jaenschwalde open pit lignite mine, operated Vattenfall AB, in Jaenschwalde.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Two Czech billionaires have come up with an unusual way to tap Angela Merkel’s shift toward clean energy: invest in some of Germany’s dirtiest coal-fired power plants and lignite mines.
Petr Kellner, who built the Czech Republic’s biggest fortune on businesses ranging from mobile phones to Russian gold mines, will vie with lignite mining magnate Pavel Tykac for the assets being sold by Sweden’s Vattenfall AB in the German states of Brandenburg and Saxony. Further Czech brown-coal expertise comes with a potential bid from state-owned utility CEZ AS.