Lignite Regions Turn into Energy Hubs: RWE Expands Wind and Solar – Large-Scale Battery Storage Under Construction
Essen – RWE has expanded the Garzweiler solar park at the opencast mine of the same name and commissioned the Düren-Merken wind farm in the Rhenish mining area. A large-scale battery storage system is also being built at the solar site and is scheduled to be connected to the grid in spring 2027.
RWE Expands Garzweiler Solar Park to 105.7 MWp and Commissions Another Wind Farm
RWE has commissioned the second expansion phase of its solar project along the A44n motorway between Bedburg and Jüchen, on recultivated land at the Garzweiler opencast mine, after a construction period of less than six months. The new installation near Jüchen comprises 30,600 solar modules with a capacity of 19.2 MWp. Together with the first expansion phase, which started operations at the end of 2025, the solar park now has a total capacity of 105.7 MWp. According to RWE, the total of 171,600 modules can theoretically supply around 34,000 households.
RWE also reports further wind capacity additions in the Rhenish mining area. At the Inden opencast mine, the company has commissioned the Düren-Merken wind farm with two wind turbines and a total capacity of around 14 MW. The Bedburg 3 wind farm, with around 60 MW, is currently under construction near Garzweiler. According to the company, RWE is building and operating wind and solar projects with a combined capacity of around 600 MW in the Rhenish mining area. The latest commissionings are thus part of a larger expansion of renewable generation capacity in the region.
Battery Storage to Complement Wind and Solar Generation
RWE is building a battery storage system with a power capacity of 75 MW and a storage capacity of around 150 MWh at the Garzweiler solar park. Commissioning is planned for spring 2027. At full rated output, it could theoretically discharge for two hours.
The storage system is intended, among other things, to provide balancing power and to share the grid connection with the photovoltaic plant. This allows the existing grid infrastructure to be used more efficiently.
Further storage capacity is already under construction: a large-scale storage system with a power capacity of 236 MW and a storage capacity of 470 MWh is being built at the Hambach opencast mine and is scheduled to start operations in 2027.
LEAG and MIBRAG Advance Energy Transition in Lusatia and Central Germany
The conversion of existing lignite sites is not limited to the Rhenish mining area. In Lusatia, LEAG is pursuing an approach with its Gigawatt Factory that combines wind and solar parks, battery storage and dispatchable power plant capacity. The company is targeting 7 GW of wind and solar capacity by 2030.
As part of this strategy, LEAG commissioned the 105 MW Forst-Briesnig 2 wind farm and the first construction phase, with around 130 MWp, of the Bohrau solar park in September 2026. Battery storage systems with a combined power capacity of 1,400 MW and a combined storage capacity of 5,600 MWh are also being built at the Jänschwalde and Boxberg power plant sites. The projects reflect the planned expansion of a broader generation and storage portfolio at existing energy sites.
In the Central German mining area, MIBRAG is focusing on new wind turbines on recultivated opencast mining land. The company is building the Breunsdorf wind farm with 93 MW and the Profen II wind farm with 62 MW.
Source: IWR Online, Oct 10 2026