GE AEROSPACE DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - RWE (>> RWE AG) has sued a consortium involved in the building of German lignite plant Grevenbroich-Neurath in which three workers died, demanding about 1.3 billion euros (1 billion pound) for "culpable breach of duty", a German court said.
The deaths occurred during construction of the plant in October 2007 when a scaffolding collapsed. As a result, completion was delayed by two years, for which RWE is now claiming damages, a spokesman for the Moenchengladbach regional court said on Tuesday.
The plant started operations in August 2012.
The court spokesman said the consortium included Japan's Hitachi (>> Hitachi, Ltd.), German subsidiary Hitachi Power Europe and Alstom Power Systems, which now belongs to General Electric (>> General Electric Company).
A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26, he said, adding that a settlement had not been reached so far, despite intense efforts.
RWE, Germany's second largest utility, confirmed the court's comments.
A spokesman for Hitachi in Germany declined to comment on the claims by RWE but said the consortium itself was claiming 290 million euros from RWE as a result of the construction delay.
General Electric declined to comment.
(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Writing by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
