By Christoph Steitz, Tom Käckenhoff and Vera Eckert
BERLIN (Reuters) - RWE (DE:RWEG) could break down gas-fired power plants and ship them abroad, its chief operating officer told Reuters on Tuesday, in what would be one of the most drastic responses to the German power sector's ongoing crisis.
The firm is frustrated with profit erosion and a lack of political support for its loss-making gas- and coal-fired generation units, Rolf Martin Schmitz told Reuters in an interview.
Europe's power sector has been hit by a slow economy, low wholesale prices and a surge in renewable energy capacity which is replacing gas- and coal-fired power plants, leading to billions in writedowns at the continent's top energy firms.
"We examine, among other options, the sale of power plants into foreign countries," Schmitz said.
"It just doesn't make sense to have a modern, operational unit without anyone paying for it, for example through reserve payments."
German policymakers have said they are opposed to utilities being reimbursed for keeping loss-making plants online as a backup for the electricity grid.
German wholesale power prices are currently at 11-year lows, depressed by a massive surplus of production capacity caused by a surge in the installation of solar panels and wind turbines across Europe. The weak prices are preventing some coal and gas plants from covering their costs.
RWE is now considering selling a Dutch gas-fired power plant that has only been in operation for a few months, Schmitz said.
"The company is doing the right thing exploring all options to minimise cash losses of conventional plants," Deepa Venkateswaran, analyst at Bernstein Research, said.
RWE said last year that 20-30 percent of its power stations could not cover their operating costs, after posting its first annual net loss in more than six decades.
The market for European plant capacity has gained traction in recent months after larger peer E.ON (DE:EONGn) sold activities in Spain and Italy, while Sweden's Vattenfall (VATN.UL) is planning to sell its German lignite plants.
This has attracted infrastructure investors such as Australia's Macquarie (AX:MQG) and Czech energy firm EPH, who are banking on a recovery of wholesale prices as Europe's utilities shut down thousands of megawatts worth of capacity.
Since the start of 2013, RWE has closed 12,600 MW worth of capacity, nearly a quarter of its European portfolio, and Schmitz said the company was examining whether or not to mothball more.