GELSENKIRCHEN (dpa-AFX) - Around 100 climate activists from the "Ende Gelände" group blocked the Uniper Scholven coal-fired power plant in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday. Since the early morning, around 30 people had obstructed the access road and another 70 were sitting on the tracks in front of the power plant, according to Ende Gelände. The activists, dressed in white overalls, painted the tracks with red paint and lowered a banner from a bridge.

The police arrived in force and declared the unannounced protest action over in the afternoon. The activists were asked to leave the area, a police spokesman said. Some activists had to be carried off the tracks by officers, as a dpa reporter observed.

"Ende Gelände" says it is calling for an immediate coal phase-out. "Today we are stopping the CO2 emissions from the dirty Scholven coal-fired power plant and taking the coal phase-out into our own hands," said spokeswoman Jule Fink.

A Uniper spokesperson said that power plant operations had not been affected by the action. The company reserves the right to take legal action.

In a statement issued in the evening, the police spoke of serious trespassing. 96 participants had been banned from the site. The officers also filed emergency charges because rail and road traffic had been blocked. The operation was ended in the evening.

Scholven is one of several coal-fired power plants operated by the nationalized energy company. According to the Uniper spokesperson, the Federal Network Agency extended the system relevance of the Scholven B and C power plant units until 2031 in December. In general, Uniper wants to drive forward the energy transition at the site. A first new gas-fired power plant is currently in trial operation./pa/DP/mis