Stop dismantling German windfarm to expand coalmine, say authorities

The owner of the Garzweiler mine says it is aware that dismantling windfarms sent a ‘paradoxical’ message. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

Governing authorities in Germany have urged one of the country’s biggest energy companies to stop dismantling a wind park to make way for an open-pit mine, after activists said the move symbolised a rollback of the government’s climate protection plans.

Consisting of eight turbines, the Keyenberg wind park in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia is located about half a mile from the edge of a 48 km² surface mine, named after the local village of Garzweiler.