Our business fields
From a mining and power plant operator to a versatile energy, infrastructure and service company – this is our path into the future. With electricity and heat from lignite, we make a reliable and flexible contribution to energy supply along the legally defined coal exit path. At the same time, we are using our infrastructure, estate and expertise for new business areas and are keeping pace with the transformation of the energy supply industry.
Innovative energy solutions
We have been using virtual power plants to remotely control, monitor and market plants since 2007. These energy services have also been provided by us to partners under the brand name LEAG energy cubes. The spectrum ranges from direct marketing, PPAs and Redispatch 2.0 for renewable energy plants to ancillary service pools and flexible energy solutions for industrial and commercial locations.
Energy marketing
Independent of imports. Price stable. Binding. LEAG is continuing to develop its trading activities. We offer you a contractually and reliably secured purchase of your energy volumes by means of an EFET contract.
Industrial services
Unusually large equipment is a core competence of LEAG's main workshop - from excavator shovels to large pumps to freight wagons. Under the brand MCR Engineering, the range of services is also open to external customers. The focus is on large equipment maintenance, mechanical engineering and structural steelwork as well as the maintenance of rail vehicles. For this purpose, there is 26,000 square metres of workshop space, 1,000 metres of covered track and 300 qualified employees.
Refining
About six percent of the lignite mined in Lusatia is not used in large-scale power plants. Instead this portion is processed to solid or free-flowing fuels that can be used efficiently and in a decentralised way. The special value of the resource is being optimally enhanced – it is 'refined'. Our refining site in Schwarze Pumpe is one of the most modern of its kind in Europe.
Our production and resources
Lusatian Mining District
The Lusatian mining area is the focus of our business activities. It covers the south of Brandenburg and the north-east of Saxony. Here and at the Lippendorf site near Leipzig, we generate electricity, heat and refined products from domestic lignite.
At the same time, we are using our infrastructures, land and expertise for new business fields and are helping to bring about change in the energy sector. This includes the expansion of renewable energies with the additional integration of conventional technologies as well as storage facilities, hydrogen and innovative energy services for our customers. Our focus is always on ensuring a high level of supply security in the future.
With the German phase-out of coal-fired power generation by the end of 2038 at the latest, mining regions like Lusatia are facing a transformation. Based on their traditional strengths, new ideas and investments, they can further develop into versatile energy regions. Energy and industrial solutions not only secure the supply of electricity and heat, but are also the starting point for new value chains. LEAG sees itself as part of this structural development.
Renewable energies
Renewable energies are to cover up to 80 percent of Germany's electricity needs in 2030. We are also stepping up our commitment and want to grow in wind and photovoltaics in particular. Our extensive and comparatively low-conflict post-mining landscapes offer the ideal basis for expansion on a gigawatt scale. Renewables create synergies for settlement and regional value creation, and they are closely linked to other core issues at LEAG such as electricity marketing and the development of a regional hydrogen economy.
Battery storage
The development of large-scale electricity storage facilities is a key to converting the energy supply from conventional power plants to renewable energies. We are operating the BigBattery Lausitz, at the Schwarze Pumpe site. It is Europe's largest battery storage facility in this constellation. The megawatt plant is designed to help stabilise electricity grid operations in the event of fluctuations in generation and demand.
Conventional power plants
Our conventional power plants make an important contribution to security of supply in times of the energy transition. Our lignite-fired power plants contribute to the electricity and heat supply in line with demand along the statutory phase-out path until the end of 2038. At the same time, they are able to react flexibly to fluctuations in the production of renewable electricity. We have significantly reduced power plant emissions with billions of euros in investments and are continuing to reduce them. Our gas-fired power plants support the grid operators in ensuring stable operation.
Mining
The opencast mines of Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG produced around 47 million tonnes of lignite in 2021. It is our aim to supply the Lusatian power plants and the refining plant in Schwarze Pumpe reliably and to a high standard of quality. We limit and reduce the unavoidable impact of mining on the environment and landscape as much as possible. With timely recultivation straight after mining we see that a safe diverse postmining landscape is created.
Circular economy – Ressources and recycling
The aim of this business expansion is to recycle different types of waste or to use it thermally as a substitute fuel. We are planning a RDF (refuse derived fuel) plant at the Jänschwalde site together with the environmental service provider Veolia. Another project involves the establishment of a specialist waste management company for the recycling and disposal of mainly mineral waste. Here, quality-assured recycling products and building materials are to be produced.