German President Koehler visits RWE

German President Horst Koehler visited RWE Supply & Trading in Essen today. He was accompanied by the delegation leaders of the diplomatic corps and international organisations such as the European Commission. The some 200-strong delegation visited RWE's energy trading floor and was provided with information about RWE's projects in the area of electric mobility. Each year, the German President visits a different Federal State and this year it was the turn of North Rhine-Westphalia.

During the one-hour visit, the delegation took a look at the very heart of RWE Supply & Trading's corporate headquarters: the largest energy trading floor in Europe, covering 3000 square metres and providing 250 work stations. Juergen Grossmann, CEO of RWE, Stefan Judisch, CEO of RWE Supply & Trading, and others explained how energy trading and gas procurement function on the international markets.

"Innovation has a long tradition at RWE. It was right here that Hugo Stinnes founded the company that for the first time linked up coal-fired power stations in West Germany with the pump-storage stations of the Alps. A pioneering move. Today, the future is knocking on our door in the form of electric vehicles and a RWE charging point, examples of which you can see just outside this building", said Juergen Grossmann.

Many of visitors took the opportunity to test-drive an electric vehicle and to try out a driving simulator. Of particular interest to the members of the delegation was the RWE "Autostrom" charging point and the smart ed car. The RWE Group is strongly committed to setting up a countrywide infrastructure for electric vehicles. Some 100 RWE charging points have already been installed in Germany, e.g. in Berlin, Muelheim, Dortmund and Essen, with more to come by the end of this year in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. Juergen Grossmann commented, "RWE is demonstrating the energy to lead by creating the basis for climate friendly driving - our cities will become cleaner and quieter as a result".