German cabinet agrees compensation for utilities due to nuclear exit

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed on Wednesday to grant compensation of up to around 1 billion euros (877.6 million pounds) to utilities RWE <RWEG.DE> and Vattenfall <VATN.UL> for income lost due to the nuclear phase out, the environment ministry said.

The move follows a Constitutional Court ruling in 2016 which stated that a decision in 2011 to decommission nuclear power stations by the end of 2022 violated some property rights, clearing the way to compensation but leaving the amount open.

A draft law seen by Reuters was drawn up last month, stating that the amount would probably be in the high three-digit-million euros ballpark.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michael Nienaber)