DUESSELDORF – German power company RWE is not permitted to clear an ancient forest for mining until a court reviews claims from an environmental group, a German court ruled on Friday.
The utility giant has drawn heavy criticism from environmentalists over the planned clearing of the Hambach forest, located in North Rhine-Westphalia, as Europe's largest economy works on ways to phase out its coal-fired power plants.
RWE has said it would lose as much as €5-billion if it could not continue to mine lignite by removing the last bit of the ancient Hambach forest. .
RWE had no immediate comment.
The court, however, ruled that RWE can continue to mine lignite as long as it does not use forested areas in Hambach.
Controversy over the project came to a head in September, when riot police cleared environmental activists from treehouses in the forest, dismantling a protest camp set up five years ago to block a coal mining project.