Vattenfall says suing Germany over nuclear exit

Swedish power group Vattenfall said Thursday it was joining bigger rivals E.ON and RWE in filing a complaint with Germany's top court seeking compensation for Berlin's decision to abandon nuclear power.

"We have recently lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court," a spokeswoman for Germany's third biggest nuclear energy producer told AFP.

The spokeswoman stressed that the complaint was not against the decision to ditch nuclear power per se but against the requirement to shut down reactors early, which they say infringes their proprietary rights.

The move follows similar complaints lodged in April by RWE and in November by E.ON.

All three companies have already seen profits fall sharply.

In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, Berlin decided to phase out nuclear power, forcing energy suppliers to shut down their profitable large-scale power plants and also levying a tax on the reactors' fuel for their remaining lifespan.

Vattenfall said it was seeking "appropriate compensation".

Germany's biggest power utility E.ON has said it wants at least 8.0 billion euros ($9.8 billion).