LEAG completes 17MW solar project at German coal plant

German energy and industrial services provider LEAG has completed a solar PV project on the site of a former industrial settling plant at the Lippendorf coal power plant near Leipzig in Germany.

The 17MW solar park was developed together with partner EP New Energies GmbH (EPNE).

The PV park in Böhlen, Saxony, includes 30,000 modules that will supply around 6,000 households with green electricity.

The 14-hectare area on which the solar PV plant was built is the site of a former industrial settling plant for power plant ash, which is located directly on the site of a former open-cast mine.

The Lippendorf power plant is a joint power plant between LEAG and the southern German energy supplier EnBW. The plant consists of two power plant blocks, each with an installed capacity of 920MW. The lignite-fired power generation plant started operating in 1926 and will remain online until the end of 2035.

In Lippendorf, raw lignite from MIBRAG's United Schleenhain opencast mine is converted into electricity. It reaches the power plant via a 14-kilometer-long belt system and at full load, the power plant requires around 34,000 tons of brown coal per day.

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Thorsten Kramer, LEAG CEO: "We are delighted that the site of the former IAA Böhlen is being put to a particularly sustainable use."

"Together with the up to 14GW of green power generation that we want to make available by 2040, this can replace the power generation capacity of today's lignite power plant in Lusatia and central Germany."

LEAG GigawattFactory

The re-use of former industrial land, such as post-mining land or old power plant sites, is an essential part of the LEAG's GigawattFactory initiative.

According to LEAG, the initiative involves a plan to install up to 14GW of renewables in the Lusatia mining region by 2040, with a focus on combining "photovoltaic and wind turbines with innovative power plants, large-scale storage systems and green hydrogen".

Ultimately, LEAG plans to connect large power plants and industrial sites in Lusatia to a hydrogen core network. The company is also planning to build new flexible H2-capable power plants at its sites - including the Lippendorf power plant. The total capacity of these power plants is expected to be up to 4.5GW by 2040.

Dominique Guillou, managing director of EP New Energies GmbH, commented in a statement: "With the PV park Böhlen...we are bringing the necessary power for the GigawattFactory. In total, we have already submitted more than one gigawatt of LEAG's project potential to approval procedures."