Energy Intelligence has awarded its 2025 Energy Innovation Award to RWE based on the German utility’s tangible progress in transforming from a coal-heavy generator to a fully decarbonized company.
 
The Energy Innovation Award recognizes companies making the greatest improvements to the energy transition, particularly energy incumbents or those aiding incumbents in the transition. It is rooted in quantitative data, as measured by Energy Intelligence’s Energy Transition and Competitive Intelligence services and Green Utilities ranking. The winner is then selected from a shortlist by an independent panel of leading experts in finance, government, academia and consulting.

RWE is targeting a full coal exit by 2030 and its emissions per megawatt hour are already down by a significant 71% from 2012 to 2024, with a 38% cut seen between 2022 and 2024. 
 
RWE -- which is ultimately targeting net zero by 2040, ten years earlier than many companies -- is making investments in onshore and offshore wind, solar, battery storage and hydrogen. Its renewable capacity grew to 19 GW in 2024, up from 13 GW in 2022 and 3 GW in 2012.
 
"RWE serves as proof that utilities can succeed in pivoting their business models in a sharp low-carbon direction," says Lauren Craft, editor of EI New Energy and administrator of the award. "The company stands out from its peers in its commitment to strict emissions reduction targets and, even more importantly, in making tangible progress toward those objectives through serious investments in alternatives.”
 
The company ranks 33rd in Energy Intelligence's annual Green Utilities ranking, making it one of the best ranked among incumbent, traditionally fossil fuel-heavy utilities.
 
The award will be presented to RWE’s chief financial officer, Marcus Müller, during the 2025 Energy Intelligence Forum in London.
 
Previous winners of the award include TotalEnergies (2024), Repsol (2023), Eni (2022), Equinor (2021), Total (now TotalEnergies) (2020), Royal Dutch Shell (now Shell) (2019), Vattenfall (2018), Engie (2017), Total (now TotalEnergies) (2016), Statoil (now Equinor) (2015), Dong Energy (now Orsted) (2014), Iberdrola (2013) and Masdar (2012).