Wind and solar to replace lignite at German power firm

The company is targeting 7GW by 2030, and an additional 7GW by 2040. It anticipates around 70% of this will be solar and 30% will be wind, a spokesperson told Windpower Monthly.

Leag currently has around 8.1GW of installed lignite capacity in Germany, but this will be gradually phased out between 2025 and 2038.  

Last year, the firm said it had up to 33,000 hectares of open cast mines that could be developed and that wind and solar developed there could be easily connected to the high voltage power grid. Renewable projects would probably have fewer difficulties with local residents or environmental protection rules as other projects do, the company added. 

Leag’s transition to renewable includes the ‘Gigawatt Factory’ – a significant long-duration energy storage and hydrogen production capacity.  The company announced an initial agreement with US storage manufacturer ESS today, to develop a 50MW/500MWh iron flow battery system at the Boxberg Power Plant site, to be commissioned in 2027. 

This will be a ‘building block’ toward a target of 3GWh battery capacity by 2040. Leag is also targeting 2GW of hydrogen production capacity. 

Leag said its gigawatt factory will “demonstrate a renewable energy system at scale which not only replaces baseload coal generation, but uses short-duration storage, LDES and hydrogen to replace natural gas for grid balancing.” 

“We look forward to partnering with LEAG to develop the model for utilities and communities worldwide transitioning from coal to clean, renewable energy,” said Eric Dresselhuys, chief executive of ESS.