LONDON - One of Germany's biggest electricity generating companies has announced that it will delay phasing out a key coal-fired power station and may even restart it, as Russia's decision to cut gas supplies threatens Europe's biggest economy with widespread energy shortages this winter.

A half-century-old coal power plant shut down earlier this year "will not be dismantled for the time being", RWE said in its corporate annual report released yesterday, adding that it is "keeping the door open for this unit to be restarted".