Germany’s Leag eyes 1,000 MW solar park in renewables expansion

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German brown coal miner and power generator Leag unveiled plans on Thursday to build a 1,000 megawatt (MW) solar park that could open in early 2026, as it looks to expand in renewable energy.

Leag, based in eastern Germany’s Lusatia region, aims to bring 7 gigwatts (GW) of solar and wind output facilities online by 2030, spending 1 billion euros ($972 million) a year, board chairman Thorsten Kramer said in a webcast with reporters.

“We want to start the energy transition now by becoming a leading player in renewables,” he said.

“Lusatia will become a magnet for consumer industries of green power.”

Leag is owned by Czech investor EPH and private equity group PPF Investments.

The 7 GW, roughly matching the company’s current fossil fuel capacity, would comprise around one third solar projects – with modules being sourced in Asia but with a view to perhaps also setting up a local factory – and two thirds wind.

All going well, a doubling of green capacity to 14 GW by 2040 is conceivable, the company said.

The 1,000 MW plant could supply power for around 300,000 households.

Asked about financing, Kramer said Leag would fund most of the investments with its own capital, drawing support from sky-high power prices achievable at current market levels.

The company could repurpose around 33,000 hectares (81,500 acres) of land for mining and power stations, where connecting infrastructure to power grids is in place.

Leag plans to install electrolysers to turn renewable power into storable green hydrogen and, separately, to add several hundred MW in coming years to an existing 50 MW battery storage facility to support grid stability.

The announcements came a day after the German government decided to bring back idled brown coal capacity, including Leag’s Jaenschwalde E and F blocks, from a reserve scheme into the market, in response to the energy crisis.

Germany still aims to end coal power generation by 2038.

($1 = 1.0292 euros)

(Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Rachel More and Mark Potter)