Against the backdrop of the legally defined deadline for the decommissioning of Jänschwalde power plant on 31 December 2028, LEAG is once again stepping up its activities to develop the Jänschwalde energy site. A team specifically tasked with site development will work together with local partners over the coming years to transform the power plant site and the areas formerly used for Jänschwalde’s surface mining infrastructure, along with the adjacent mining areas, into a future-oriented site for sustainable energy solutions in the Jänschwalde/Peitz region.
In addition to wind and solar installations currently being developed and built on the Jänschwalde opencast mine site, further elements such as battery storage facilities and a 380 kV switchyard for managing electricity flows are planned to create a holistically integrated energy landscape. With the start of construction of Germany’s largest battery storage facility, GigaBattery 1000 Jänschwalde, planned for the second quarter of 2026, LEAG will provide a significant boost to Jänschwalde as a future hub. The existing connection to the 380-kV high-voltage grid also represents a clear locational advantage for the expansion of the GigawattFactory and the settlement of new businesses.
By the end of this year, unit A – the next 500-MW unit – will enter a phased decommissioning process. This will reduce the capacity available on the market from the current 2,000 MW to 1,500 MW. Unit A went into operation on 1 October 1981 as the first of a total of six power plant units at the Jänschwalde site. For more than forty years, it helped to meet the electricity demand of millions of households. During its operational life, it was retrofitted with state-of-the-art environmental and turbine technology to effectively reduce emissions.
With the end of lignite-fired power generation at the Jänschwalde site, the district heating supply for the towns of Cottbus and Peitz must also be reorganised. With a view to establishing a district heating supply that is independent of lignite in the future, discussions are to be held with the respective contractual partners – Heizkraftwerksgesellschaft Cottbus mbH for Cottbus and enviaTherm for Peitz – to identify forward-looking solutions. Together with these partners, the aim is to identify technical and economically viable pathways for transition and replacement in order to secure a reliable long-term district heating supply.