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Euronews
2 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Report reveals huge solar power potential of abandoned coal mines
Converting abandoned or soon-to-close coal mines into solar farms could provide enough power to meet the demands of a country the size of Germany, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis. Researchers from Global Energy Monitor (GEM) have identified 312 surface coal mines that have been shut since 2020, sprawling over 2,089 square kilometres (km²). Its Global Coal Mine Tracker (GCMT) finds that a further 3,731 km² of mine land is set to be abandoned by operators before the end of 2030 as reserves are run down. In total, that means an estimated 446 coal mines and 5,820 km² of abandoned land that could be repurposed for solar projects and generate nearly 300 GW of renewable energy. That's a huge amount - equivalent to around 15 per cent of globally installed solar capacity today. 'The legacy of coal is written into the land, but that legacy does not have to define the future,' says Cheng Cheng Wu, project manager for the Energy Transition Tracker at GEM. 'The coal mine to solar transition is underway, and this potential is ready to be unlocked in major coal producers like Australia, the US, Indonesia and India,' Wu adds. China is currently leading the pack on coal-to-solar projects. It has 90 such conversions up and running, with a capacity of 14 GW, and 46 more projects in the pipeline. The next four major coal producers above hold nearly three-quarters of the global potential for coal-to-solar transitions, the analysts found. In Europe, the report singles out Greece - which is 'exceptionally well-suited' for turning old coal mines into solar plants. An average solar potential of 4.45 kilowatts per square meter (kW/m²), a fast-approaching coal phaseout goal of 2026, and a supportive financing environment as an EU member state all make Greece ripe for this transition. In Western Macedonia in northern Greece, companies have already set to work creating solar parks in the boundaries of the former Amynteo opencast lignite mine. And the country's EU-funded national recovery plan Greece 2.0 has set aside €175 million to support more solar projects in Central Macedonia. Given the global goal of tripling renewables capacity by 2030, derelict coal mines present a sizable opportunity for the clean energy transition. But the benefits don't stop there. 'Acquiring land for global renewable energy targets has been rife with conflicts among stakeholders and decision-makers,' acknowledges Hailey Deres, researcher at GEM. Developers are busy exploring overlooked sites for panels - from roadsides to reservoirs and railway tracks - and old coal mines are a particularly fitting location. 'So repurposing degraded lands could provide salient new benefits to former coal communities across the planet,' she continues. 'Repurposing mines for solar development offers a rare chance to bring together land restoration, local job creation, and clean energy deployment in a single strategy,' adds Wu. 'With the right choices, the same ground that powered the industrial era can help power the climate solutions we now urgently need.' In total, the analysts estimate that 259,700 permanent jobs could be created at coal-to-solar transition sites, and another 317,500 temporary and construction jobs. That's more than the number of workers the coal industry is expected to shed globally by 2035. Old coal mines are often just left as a scar on the landscape, but this approach also provides an economic incentive for reclamation and cleaning up the mess left after mining. 'We've seen what happens in coal communities when companies go bankrupt, axe the workers, and leave a mess behind,' says Ryan Driskell Tate, associate director at GEM. 'But mined-out coalfields harbour huge potential for powering a clean energy future. It's already happening. We just need the right mix of incentives to put people to work building the next generation of solar in coal country.'
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Retired Coal Mines Can Give a Boost to Solar Energy, Report Says
Coal mines abandoned this decade could be used to house about 288 gigawatts of solar panels, more than all the power plants in Germany, from otherwise deserted land, according to a new report by Global Energy Monitor. Dozens of such projects have already been built in China, the world's biggest coal miner and solar developer, while there are also massive opportunities in Australia, Indonesia and the US, the report's authors found. The developments would also create jobs in former mining areas and provide incentives to clean up land scarred by heavy industrial activity.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Closed coal mines to solar: Can boost global capacity by 15%; India ranks 4th, sites in five states
BATHINDA: Coal mines that have been abandoned or will be closed by the end of this decade hold enough potential photovoltaic (PV) solar capacity, finds a new report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM), a dataset of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal facilities, released early Wednesday. The first-of-its-kind analysis draws on data in the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a dataset of coal mines, to identify 312 surface coal mines that have been idled and degraded since 2020. These abandoned mines sprawl over 2,089 square kilometres (km²). With repurposing, these coal-to-solar projects could site 103 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity on derelict lands. The analysis further identifies 3,731 km² of mine land that may be abandoned by operators before the end of 2030, owing to the depletion of reserves and the reported life of the mine. If those operations close, they could site an additional 185 GW of solar power capacity. In total, an estimated 446 coal mines and 5,820 km² of abandoned mine lands could be suitable for solar repurposing. With development, those projects could harbor nearly 300 GW of photovoltaic solar potential, equivalent to 15% of the globally installed solar capacity. India ranked fourth after Australia, Indonesia, USA, where estimated solar potential of 27.11 GW from 63 coalmines with land area 546.76 square km has been found. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like ¿Padece una enfermedad renal crónica (ERC)? Trialbee Más información Undo These mines are in Jharkhand, MP, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana. The new data on coal-to-solar projects shows that China has 90 operational coal mine-to-solar conversions, with a capacity of 14 GW, and 46 more projects, with 9 GW, in planning, while the next four major coal producers — Australia, the US, Indonesia and India— have nearly three quarters of the global potential for coal to solar transitions. Not only would this conversion help the world towards the global goal of tripling renewables capacity by the end of the decade, but it would also provide an economic incentive for reclamation and cleaning up the mess left after mining, which is not standard routine in much of the world. The report estimates 259,700 permanent jobs could be created at coal-to-solar transition sites, and another 317,500 temporary and construction jobs, more than the number of workers that the coal industry is expected to shed globally by 2035. The greatest potential for solar redevelopment on mine lands is found in some of the world's largest coal-producing countries — Australia, Indonesia, the United States, and India. Cheng Cheng Wu, Project Manager for the Energy Transition Tracker at Global Energy Monitor, said, 'The legacy of coal is written into the land, but that legacy does not have to define the future. The coal mine to solar transition is underway, and this potential is ready to be unlocked in major coal producers like Australia, the U.S., Indonesia and India. Repurposing mines for solar development offers a rare chance to bring together land restoration, local job creation, and clean energy deployment in a single strategy. With the right choices, the same ground that powered the industrial era can help power the climate solutions we now urgently need.' Hailey Deres, Researcher at Global Energy Monitor, said 'Acquiring land for global renewable energy targets has been rife with conflicts among stakeholders and decision-makers, so repurposing degraded lands could provide salient new benefits to former coal communities across the planet.' Ryan Driskell Tate, Associate Director at Global Energy Monitor, said 'We've seen what happens in coal communities when companies go bankrupt, axe the workers, and leave a mess behind. But mined-out coalfields harbor huge potential for powering a clean energy future. It's already happening. We just need the right mix of incentives to put people to work building the next generation of solar in coal country.'
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Energy transition: How coal mines could go solar
Bangkok, Jun 18, 2025 -Disused coal mines could be refashioned to place vast fields of solar panels, a new report suggests, providing an unlikely solution to a common obstacle to uptake of the green energy source. Hundreds of decommissioned surface coal mines worldwide offer an alternative to tracts of land that might be needed for food or housing, according to Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an non-governmental organisation focused on fossil fuel and renewable energy projects. Abandoned coal mines are on land that has already been cleared, and tend to be near electrical grids, making them ideal for feeding in renewable energy. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Join new Free to Play WWII MMO War Thunder War Thunder Play Now Undo "Over 300 surface coal mines recently out of commission could house around 103GW of photovoltaic solar capacity , and upcoming closures of large operations could host an additional 185GW of solar," according to the group. That would allow the world to add the equivalent of 15 percent of existing global solar capacity by 2030, or about what it takes to power a country the size of Germany for a year, GEM added. Live Events And the prospect is not just theoretical. Coal mine-to-solar conversions are already happening in some countries, most notably China, which leads the world in solar uptake. There, 90 conversions with a capacity of 14GW have already been completed, with another 9GW in planning, GEM said. The conversions offer several potential benefits, including a financial incentive to clean-up abandoned coal sites, and the opportunity to create new jobs in surrounding communities hit by mine closures. It "isn't just land reclamation -- it's a chance to align land restoration, clean energy goals, and local job creation", said GEM. Coal is a polluting fossil fuel that contributes to climate change, and phasing out its use is a key part of the energy transition . However, there are some significant potential obstacles to such conversions, including tracing land ownership in abandoned mines. Permitting and rules on returning land to its original status may also be challenges. However, the largest obstacle is likely to be cost, because coal mine-to-solar conversions are more expensive than developing solar land that does not require rehabilitation. Mine sites can be unstable and contain toxic material. And nearby grid infrastructure previously used for steady, baseload coal power will need upgrading to deal with variable solar supply. Still, report co-author Cheng Cheng Wu said there were good reasons to believe the conversions could speed up. "While this model may not yet be scalable across all contexts, we've observed that policy direction at the subnational level, targeting the expansion of renewable energy while rehabilitating environmentally degraded land, can drive corporate interest in coal-to-solar repurposing," she told AFP. "The provinces with the most active projects in China are those that have suffered considerable environmental costs from their mining history," she added. The higher costs must be weighed against the benefits, and co-author Ryan Driskell-Tate said: "Owners wanting to release the assets, permitting processes, potential community buy-in, and so on." "I suspect that's why we're seeing it emerge in different regions and contexts," he told AFP. sah/dan
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Could old coal mines help ease China's solar-panel overcapacity?
China leads the world in converting decommissioned coal-mining sites into solar power projects, a trend that promises to advance the clean energy transition while potentially reducing a surplus of solar panels produced by struggling Chinese manufacturers, according to Global Energy Monitor (GEM). Conversion of surface-mined lands into solar-generation projects had surged in 15 countries, particularly over the past couple of years, the non-governmental organisation said in a report on Wednesday. In mainland China – the world's largest producer and consumer of coal – 90 former coal mines were operating as solar-power facilities, with a total generating capacity of 14 gigawatts (GW), GEM said. An additional 46 projects representing 9GW were in the planning stages, it added. 'Repurposing mines for solar development offers a rare chance to bring together land restoration, local job creation, and clean energy deployment in a single strategy,' said Wu Chengcheng, project manager at GEM and co-author of the report. Outside China, 14 countries, including Australia, the US and Greece, were pursuing conversion projects, targeting a total of 11GW of solar capacity, according to GEM. However, most projects were still in the early stages, with only a small fraction operational. The report said such projects could help address land-utilisation issues, as the world had closed more than 6,000 coal mines since 2010, mostly in China and the US. More were expected to close under national commitments to phase out coal in 33 countries, GEM added. 'I wouldn't discount politics for influencing these trends,' said Ryan Driskell Tate, associate director at GEM. 'These projects turn 'abandoning' into 'rebuilding' and are incredibly symbolic of a just energy transition.'
