Press release of the district government Arnsberg
Validity of the main operating plan without deforestation renewed until 3/31/2018
By decision of December 20, 2017, the district government of Arnsberg, which is responsible for mining and energy in NRW, renewed the validity of the current main operating plan for the Hambach open-cast mine until March 31th, 2018. As a result of the licence, the continuation of lignite extraction will be secured also after 12/31/2017, thus ensuring the important supply of lignite to the power plants in the months to come.
In view of pending court proceedings, clearing and logging measures on wooded areas are excluded from the prolongation. In the period until the end of March next year, the issues relating to nature conservation legislation will be further intensively investigated and examined by the district government of Arnsberg. After that, the decision on the license until the end of 2020 of the next main operating plan will be taken.