So...Siemens Energy is delivering gas turbines to a project, on which site, hundreds of people have been tortured and killed (-allegedly-).
This is what energy projects can look like on the ground. It matters to pay attention.
We urge Siemens Energy to withdraw from the project.
In November 2025, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights filed war crimes allegations against TotalEnergies with French prosecutors. In January 2026, TotalEnergies re-launched the gas extraction. Siemens Energy still seems set to deliver the gas turbines.
Now, recently, a Politico investigation claimed that on the actual project site (!), hundreds of civilians were (-allegedly-) detained and tortured by Mozambican soldiers. Out of hundreds, only 26 have survived (-allegedly-).
Only when insurgents killed more than 1,000 people, TotalEnergies eventually put the project on hold.
The fossil-mega-billion-dollar-project has obviously not led to more safety. Hundreds of families were displaced from their land to make room for the project site, and the wider area became heavily militarized.
This is the context in which TotalEnergies is drilling for gas off the coast of Cabo Delgado. A $20 billion fossil mega-project. Siemens Energy is set to supply the turbines.
Hundreds have been killed in terrorist attacks by the militants. And hundreds more have been killed during anti-government crackdowns by the military. Currently, around 60.000 people are displaced. And around 750.000 people are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
I’m starting with Mozambique, Cabo Delgado. It’s a heavy story, so consider this a heads-up.
The region has been caught in an ongoing violent conflict between militant jihadists and the Mozambican military, with civilians experiencing horrific violence from both sides.
A few days ago, I shared our newly published briefing:
'Turbines for Tyrants: An Examination of Siemens Energy’s Dealings in Conflict-Affected and Repressive States'
In the next few weeks, I’ll post about each of our key case studies.
Siemens Energy and its related companies are historic German engineering heavyweights, with important expertise in wind power and power grids. We need that kind of domestic know-how for future technologies. It is a pity it is being used for the fossil gas agenda.
Together with Urgewald, @fridaysforfuture.de & Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre my colleague Imke Irmer
put the company on the spot and called for divestment from its fossil business model.
It’s a good read for the current moment.
👇Link: lnkd.in/dU_nn3mH
Siemens Energy is one of the top three gas turbine manufacturers worldwide. The company is deeply entrenched in the current push for more gas infrastructure. We just published a brochure that takes a closer look at some of the company’s dealings in conflict-affected and repressive states.
A blocked Strait of Hormuz means more market power for US LNG and the Trump administration.
I also came back to the first in-person general shareholders’ meeting of Siemens Energy since COVID.
With everything going on in the world, it’s obvious that fossil business models are always tangled up with dirty geopolitics and lead to ugly dependencies.
I was off work for a few weeks. I came back to my desk to the news of Trump’s Iran attack.
To claim something you need to be able to prove it. So what’s actually behind claims that AI can help solve climate change and what does the evidence actually say? Read the report @ketanjoshi.co: beyondfossilfuels.org/2026/02/17/t...
@stand.earth @foeus.bsky.social @caadcoalition.bsky.social & more!
2️⃣ Weiß unser Bundeskanzler überhaupt, was in den letzten zwei Jahren verhandelt wurde? Unter Robert Habeck gab es 5 GW Kraftwerke, die nicht wasserstofffähig sein sollten...
3️⃣ Ist die Kommunikation mit Katherina Reiche abgesprochen? Spannende Art, es einfach so in Halle zu droppen.
Falls Merz’ Aussage impliziert, dass Brüssel eine größere Flotte an Kraftwerken ohne verpflichtendes Umstellungsdatum durchwinkt, ist das super gefährlich; für das Klima & den Hochlauf der Wasserstoffwirtschaft.
Mehrere Dinge:
1️⃣ „Wasserstofffähig“ ist ein schwammiger Begriff, und die „Wasserstofffähigkeit“ in den früheren Plänen fand ich zweifelhaft. Es braucht einen verpflichtenden Dekarbonisierungspfad.
Wirklich unglaublich zynisch
South Korea has joined @pastcoal.bsky.social at #COP30 — a major step toward a coal-free future!
Now it’s time for European laggards like Türkiye, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria to follow through and commit to ditching fossil fuels once and for all.
But there’s another overlooked dimension to stable supply: resilience to climate shocks.
Gas power plants are vulnerable to extreme weather, which is kinda likely to ✨increase✨ in the coming decades
Re. gas power plants: what should be obvious by now --> a fuel that makes us dependent on autocracies doesn’t provide any meaningful “security of supply.”
choose your fighter #CDU
#Nazigewalt:
"Junge Journalist*innen geschlagen und getreten: Neonazis haben am Berliner Bahnhof Ostkreuz zwei Journalist*innen angegriffen, die zuvor beim #CSD in #Bautzen fotografierten. Bereits im Zug gab es Bedrohungen."
@retepkire.bsky.social
Das Budget: insgesamt 1 Milliarde Euro, je zur Hälfte für Niedertemperatur- (100–400 °C) und Hochtemperaturwärme (> 400 °C).
Neue EU-Förderung für Prozesswärme: 1 Mrd. € im Rahmen des Innovationsfonds
Erstmals wird es im EU-Innovationsfonds eine Auktion für Projekte zur Elektrifizierung industrieller Prozesswärme und zum Einsatz erneuerbarer Wärme geben.
The EU is allegedly looking to approve “significantly more” than half of the 20GW gas plant capacity sought by 🇩🇪
The German gov will pay for this through new energy bill levies, locking households & industry into long-term contracts worth €billions🤑
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Und auch: Im Haushalt 2026 ist kein Platz für eine Senkung der Stromsteuer für private Haushalte. d.h. Preissenkung kommt nicht. Dafür aber eine extra Umlage.
Reiche: "Die Energie und Strompreise sind zu hoch"
Auch Reiche: Will eine neue Abgabe für alle Stromkunden einführen um Gaskraftwerke zu finanzieren ... Gaskraftwerke, die ja bekannt dafür sind, Preise zu drücken.
