Our business fields

LEAG's mining and lignite-fired power plants currently guarantee a stable and demand-oriented energy supply for industry and households in Germany. At the same time, the energy sector is undergoing a fundamental upheaval. New, innovative solutions and a flexible interaction of all parties involved are in demand. We are facing up to this development and expanding our business area. The focus is on future-oriented energy technologies in the fields of renewables, storage and sector coupling. In addition, new energy and industrial services for the market are being developed.

Lusatian Mining District

The regional focus of our business activities is the Lusatian lignite mining district. It is located in the east of Germany and extends over the south of Brandenburg towards the north-east of Saxony with the cities Cottbus, Spremberg and Weißwasser in the centre. The Lusatian lignite district is the second largest in Germany. We also operate the Lippendorf power plant near Leipzig and are the owner of one of the two power plant units. It obtains its lignite from the "Vereinigtes Schleenhain" opencast mine operated by MIBRAG in the Central German mining district.

An accelerated phase-out of coal-fired power generation is expected to make a further significant contribution to achieving Germany's climate targets over and above to what has already been achieved. The German government's exit path envisages that LEAG's 500 MW plants will initially be disconnected from the grid. This is to take place between 2025 and 2029, in some cases as part of a stand-by security mechanism. Our remaining power plant units are scheduled for decommissioning in 2035 and 2038. Due to the shortening of power plant operating periods, we will revise our previous mining district concept of March 2017 by summer 2020 and adjust our opencast mine planning.

Until these phase-out dates, lignite will remain an essential factor for a secure energy supply and is also a central point for the further economic structural development in the mining districts.

Mining

The opencast mines of Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG produced around 52 million tonnes of lignite in 2019. 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.

Power plants

The lignite-fired power plants of Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG generated around 49 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2019. In this way, we are making an important contribution to the security of supply in times of the energy transition. Our power plants provide reliable, demand-based power and heat around the clock. At the same time, they are able to react flexibly to the fluctuating production of renewable electricity. With billions invested in our power plant park the emissions have been considerably reduced. This continues to be our target.

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.

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 building and 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.

More about BigBattery Lausitz

Renewable energies

In the course of expanding our fields of activities, one of our goals is to increase the production of electricity from renewable energies. The first of LEAG's own PV parks has been put into operation at the end of 2019 on an expanse of more than 16 hectares at Welzow airfield. PV roof systems are being planned and installed at our office premises. We are also involved in the direct marketing of renewable electricity.

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 for renewable energy plants to ancillary service pools and flexible energy solutions for industrial and commercial locations.

More about virtual power plants

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.

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.