440-MW solar power support regional structural development

EP New Energies (EPNE) and LEAG develop Bohrau Energy Park (Energiepark Bohrau) and solar use on disused ash landfill in recultivation of Jänschwalde opencast mine.

The renewable energy landscape on recultivated areas of the Jänschwalde opencast mine will receive two more solar projects in addition to the planned 100 megawatts (MW) Forst-Briesnig II wind farm. The 400-MW Bohrau Energy Park near Forst (Lusatia), which is to operate without state subsidies under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), and a 40-MW solar plant on the disused Jänschwalde I ash landfill site in the immediate vicinity are currently being planned by renewable energy project developer EP New Energies GmbH (EPNE) together with LEAG. Initial talks have already been held with representatives of the city of Forst and the neighboring villages regarding Bohrau Energy Park. Further information about the projects will be provided in the coming weeks.

“The expansion of renewable energies in LEAG’s post-mining landscape offers a multitude of opportunities for the structural development of Lusatia. Combined with various innovative approaches, including in the field of hydrogen, the Bohrau Energy Park is intended to be the basis for further investments,” says Andreas Huck, LEAG board member responsible for New Business Areas. For the city of Forst, for example, the dimension of the planned plants would open up the possibility of a joint expansion of the power grid infrastructure, which would also improve the city’s security of supply. In addition, Huck points to the proceeds from the marketing of electricity, which would go into the provident society of the state of Brandenburg and with which the reclamation of the post-mining landscapes is to be additionally secured financially.

“With Bohrau Energy Park, we are developing a PV project that generates low-cost green electricity without government subsidies and thus offers ideal conditions for the CO2-free energy supply of local industrial companies. Renewable energy projects in the post-mining landscape can prove to be a real locational advantage for the region,” emphasizes EPNE Managing Director Dominique Guillou, whose company plans to realize wind and solar projects with several hundred megawatts together with LEAG over the next five years.

The areas planned for the energy park near the Bohrau district of Forst are former opencast mining areas that are still under the responsibility of LEAG and the Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH” (LMBV) under mining law and are currently farmed by the three regional agricultural companies Agrargenossenschaft eG Heinersbrück, Bauern AG Neißetal and Agrargenossenschaft Forst eG. Frank Schneider, Managing Director of Agrargenossenschaft eG Heinersbrück, is positive about the cooperation: “We have enjoyed a trust-based partnership with LEAG for many years, which we would like to continue for successful structural development. Together, we are working on innovative concepts for the continued management of post-mining areas used for renewable energies. From development to construction to operation, we want to enter into a long-term cooperation at Bohrau Energy Park.”

During the site selection and preparation of the project layout for the Bohrau Energy Park, nature conservation concerns were taken into account from the very beginning. In addition, nature conservation support combined with monitoring ensures that the nature conservation requirements are met. Targeted planting during the operation of the plant is intended to contribute to further soil development and increase the biodiversity of the areas and to ecologically enhance the area.

The solar plant on  Jänschwalde I, the disued ash landfill, is scheduled to go into operation in 2023, the Bohrau Energy Park one year later. In purely arithmetical terms, the two plants could supply around 125,000 households with green electricity.

Your contact for further information:

Kathi GerstnerLEAG, Press Officer,

+49 (0) 355 2887 3010, kathi.gerstner@leag.de

 

Margarita SchulzEPNE, HR & Communications Manager

+49 (0) 30 767584572, margarita.schulz@epne.de