Germany’s fleet of lignite power stations has likely lost more than 600 million euros in the first half of 2019, as profits “collapsed” and fixed costs could not be covered, according to modelling by Sandbag, quoted by cleanenergywire.com.

The climate change think tank called on German policymakers to accelerate plant closures and push back on compensations claims by lignite operators in light of the country’s planned coal exit.

German utility RWE rejected the report’s conclusions, according to a report by Tagesspiegel Background.

The German economy ministry said it takes into account the market environment in its compensation negotiations with operators.