FRANKFURT, Nov 25 (Reuters) - German utility RWE said on Sunday it would give up a 2 billion-euro ($2.96 billion) plan for a huge coal-fired power generation plant after local residents of the targeted site at Ensdorf on Sunday voted against a change of land utilisation plans.
"We regret that the majority of the population decided against the power plant but honour our pledge not to build it against the wishes of the residents," said a spokeswoman for the company's power production arm, RWE Power.
"We will analyse the reasons and study other options, but there are no concrete alternative plans for the Ensdorf location," she added.
In a vote, in which a qualifying 70.19 percent of residents participated, 70.03 percent said no to the plant and 29.97 percent opted in favour, said a civil servant in the town's administration, who helped facilitate the voting process.
"The town council has said it will follow the citizens' vote so the land utilisation plans will not be altered, which to me means the plant won't be built," he said.
The town council next meets on Dec. 12-13, he said.
Some 5,600 residents of Ensdorf in western Germany's Saarlouis district with voting rights were asked to participate.
RWE executives earlier this month said if there was too much opposition, they would call off the project.
RWE a year ago published its intentions to build two generation units of 800 megawatts each at Ensdorf, which were envisaged to start production in 2012.
The company said at the time that the investment also hinged on planning security under German laws -- where a pending tightening of cartel rules could prohibit such projects -- and on carbon dioxide quotas, which add to power production costs.
BUND, the German arm of Friends of the Earth, has warned of high sulphur dioxide and noxious dust particles emissions emanating from the new plant. Environmental organisations NABU and Greenpeace are also opposed.
But RWE has said the modern plant would be emitting far less CO2 than older installations. (Reporting by Vera Eckert and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
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