Leag announces billion dollar investment in clean energy

As the global shift towards green energy progresses, companies like German mining and power plant operating company Leag are re-defining parameters of operation. 

Leag comprises of two key operating companies and their subsidiaries — Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG and Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG — whose portfolio includes mining, refining and generating electricity and heat from lignite.

One of Germany’s largest electricity producers, the company operates mines, power plants and refining plants.

Sustainability at the forefront of global energy

Clean, renewable energy currently makes up 46% of Germany’s electricity, with the country aiming for 80% by 2030. 

In response to energy demand, Leag is shifting its focus from coal-generated power to sustainability, renewable energy, electrical storage and industrial services for the energy market. 

Going forward the company is investing US$1.1bn annually into clean energy and establishing facilities producing seven gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind output by 2030.

Facilities that are closing due to this shift are to be transformed into environmentally beneficial locations, such as the opencast mine Cottbus-Nord which operated for 35 years. After its closure in 2015, work began to turn the mine into the largest postmining lake in Germany. Cottbuser Ostsee Lake will be for recreational use that the government hopes will bring tourism and employment to the area. 

Green energy redefining business 

Leag has recently announced plans to build a US$216.12m renewable energy storage system in eastern Germany. 

The energy company has partnered with energy storage manufacturer ESS Tech Inc. to build a 50 megawatt (MW)/500 megawatt hours (MWh) battery system at the Boxberg lignite power plant, with a goal of 2-3 gigawatts per hour by 2040. 

Alongside the ability to power a small town, the battery will support grid stabilisation as the transition to clean energy progresses.

"We want to try to make this blueprint to understand all the gaps and to show that it is technically possible," says Rainer Schiller, LEAG’s Head of Large-Scale Energy Storage. 

This battery system is alongside the solar park with production capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) — enough to supply two million households — due to open in 2026.

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