*

Investors have long called for buybacks

*

RWE now targets midpoint of target range for adjusted

annual

EBITDA

*

RWE's nine-month adjusted EBITDA fell 30% to 3.98 billion

euros

(Adds details on hydrogen and offshore outlook in paragraph 1,

4, adds details on share buyback in paragraphs 2, 3)

By Christoph Steitz and Kanjyik Ghosh

MUNICH, Nov 12 (Reuters) - RWE, Germany's

biggest utility, said on Tuesday it would buy back up to 1.5

billion euros ($1.6 billion) of shares, citing weakening

prospects for hydrogen in Europe and offshore wind in the U.S.

in the wake of Donald Trump's election victory.

By launching the buyback, which will start during the fourth

quarter and run over 18 months, RWE is also bowing to growing

investor pressure to review its capital allocation in the face

of challenged returns for clean energy projects.

"We apply strict return requirements to the investment of

our funds and regularly review our capital allocation. If the

risk-return profile in certain areas changes temporarily, we

reallocate the capital earmarked for this purpose accordingly,"

RWE Chief Executive Markus Krebber said in a statement alongside

the company's nine-month financial results.

RWE said the risks for offshore wind had increased in light

of the election of Trump, an outspoken critic of the technology,

as the next U.S. president. The company added its project off

the U.S. east coast could be delayed due to outstanding permits.

The company also warned that a planned hydrogen ramp-up in

Europe was not going as planned, adding this could delay RWE's

efforts to build electrolyser capacity, chiming with similar

comments by smaller rival Uniper last week.

RWE's move reflects broader fears of what Trump's return to

the presidency could mean for clean energy investments in the

United States, with parts of current U.S. President Joe Biden's

clean technology agenda expected to be scrapped.

"RWE finally succumbs to the call of many shareholders and

analysts for a more prudent capital allocation," said Benedikt

Kormaier of energy activist fund Enkraft, which has long called

for buybacks at the company.

"The risks of RWE's aggressive investment strategy in the US

and on the hydrogen side start to materialize," he said in an

email.

At the same time, RWE gave a slightly more optimistic view

for 2024, saying it now expected to hit the midpoint of target

ranges for adjusted core profit (EBITDA) and adjusted net

profit, citing a better performance at its trading unit and

gas-fired power plants.

The group previously expected to hit the lower end of an

adjusted EBITDA range of 5.2 billion to 5.8 billion euros and an

adjusted net profit of 1.9 billion to 2.4 billion euros in 2024.

RWE's nine-month adjusted EBITDA fell 30% to 3.98 billion euros,

it reported on Tuesday.

($1 = 0.9415 euros)