For more than 125 years, our product has always been the same: electricity. What has changed is how we produce it. We generated our very first megawatt hour in 1900 – from hard coal. Later, lignite and nuclear fuel rods were our major energy sources. Today, they have been replaced with natural gas, wind, sun and water. Tomorrow, we will make a full transition to zero-carbon energy sources. Because our objective is to be carbon neutral. And we aim to accomplish this by 2040.
Green energy is the lifeblood of a sustainable economy. And demand for it is also rising outside of the energy sector. Be it in industry, transport or buildings, fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas must be replaced by zero-carbon energy sources everywhere. And where it is not possible to switch to green electricity directly, for example in steel production, hydrogen is a suitable alternative – that is hydrogen produced using electricity from renewables. Together with renowned partners from industry and science, we have set our sights on a hydrogen economy. We have already launched about 30 projects. Our long-term goal is to supply both green electricity and green hydrogen, a second product with huge potential demand.
This goes to show that our main product, electricity, and our future product, hydrogen, harbour more potential than ever before.
They present RWE with huge opportunities to grow profitably. In the years 2024 to 2030, we want to invest €55 billion worldwide in renewable energy, batteries, flexible generation and hydrogen projects and expand its green portfolio to more than 65 gigawatts (GW). We are growing green and increasing our earnings while decarbonising our portfolio even faster – in line with the 1.5-degree pathway and our goal of becoming net-zero by 2040. And we expect this to be reflected in our earnings. The Growing Green investment programme will result in an average annual increase in adjusted EBITDA of 14% in this decade; adjusted EBITDA is expected to amount to more than €9 billion in 2030. Adjusted net income in this decade will grow by an average of 12% annually – to €3 billion in 2030.
The strong earnings growth also reflects RWE’s new dividend policy until 2030, which targets an annual increase in the dividend of 5% to 10%. The dividend target for the 2024 fiscal year is €1.10 per share. At the beginning of the year, RWE announced its intention to pay a dividend of €1.00 per share for the 2023 fiscal year. As we work to accomplish this, we will also make a socially acceptable exit from coal-fired generation. We want to do this as quickly as possible, while ensuring security of supply at all times.
By aligning our environmental and economic targets, we are gaining increasing acceptance among our stakeholder groups: investors, employees, environmental activists and policymakers. By enabling the future’s sustainable energy world, we are securing our place in it. RWE’s purpose ‘Our energy for a sustainable life’ expresses that this responsibility is what drives us and shapes our entrepreneurial actions.
Our path leads to a sustainable, carbon-neutral energy world.
Come join us as a shareholder and benefit from the opportunities this path has to offer.
