EP New Energies GmbH (EPNE), together with its associated companies, is driving forward the transformation process of the central and eastern German mining regions into renewable energy regions, thus making an important contribution to a climate-neutral and import-independent energy supply. Spread over the federal states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, EPNE develops projects in the field of wind energy, ground-mounted PV and floating PV. Currently, EPNE is working on a renewable energy project pipeline in Germany of over 4 GW on secured land. A large part of this is land owned by the affiliated companies LEAG and MIBRAG. EPNE has thus built one of the largest renewables project pipelines on German soil within two years – and has already brought over 1 GW of it into approval process.
With the development of wind and solar energy on areas of former power plant sites and in post-mining landscapes, EPNE is creating a central basis for follow-up investments in storage, green hydrogen and green industry and thus for the transformation of lignite regions into CO2-neutral and state-of-the-art industrial locations – one of the most important and challenging building blocks of the energy transition. In addition, the 1 GW of renewable energy projects in approval processes can make an important contribution to independence from fossil energy imports.
“In barely two years, we have brought 14 renewable energy projects with a total capacity of over 1 GW into approval procedures. This is roughly equivalent to the output of a nuclear power plant, which can be realized as soon as the construction permits are available. Against the background of the discussion about lifetime extensions, we would like to see bold initiatives on the part of politicians to significantly accelerate approval processes for renewable energy projects,” says Dominique Guillou, Managing Director of EPNE. “The total potential on post-mining land is still many times higher and offers the possibility to generate large amounts of green energy on comparatively low-conflict land. Large parts of the potential are currently being held back by a regulatory framework that hinders the expansion of renewables on post-mining land. Implementing these plants could represent a tremendous opportunity for domestic climate-compatible power and mining regions.”
A special feature of the projects in the approval process is that the approvals are granted in accordance with different legal procedures. For example, some of the projects are approved under mining law, others under waste law and still others under the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG). Some projects, on the other hand, are in the urban land use planning process of the responsible site municipalities. The first commissioning of these projects is expected from spring 2023.
ABOUT EPNE
EP New Energies is the competence center for renewable energies of the EPH Group founded in 2019 and bundles know-how for the development and construction of renewable energy plants in the field of photovoltaics and onshore wind energy. As a project developer, the young company is working on a project portfolio of over 4 GW, covering wind onshore, ground-mounted PV, floating PV as well as hybrid projects. Innovative approaches are also pursued, such as the conversion of existing grid infrastructure, self-supply models as well as the direct connection of industrial companies to renewable generation plants.
Your contact for further information:
Margarita Schulz, EPNE, HR & Communications Manager
+49 (0) 30 767584572, margarita.schulz@epne.de