Retired coal mines can give a boost to solar energy — report

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.

“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 Cheng Cheng Wu, a project manager at Global Energy Monitor.

More than 300 coal mines closed since 2020 could house about 103 gigawatts of panels, with another 185 gigawatts potentially sited in large mines projected to shut by the end of 2030, the researchers found. Most mining sites are well situated for solar, with close proximity to existing grid infrastructure, according to the report.

China already has 90 operational mine-to-solar conversions with another 46 projects in the pipeline, totaling 23 gigawatts of generating capacity, according to the report.

Retired mines are being looked at for other uses in the energy transition, as well. State-owned miner Coal India Ltd. plans to build pumped hydro projects at exhausted mines in its country to help store renewable energy. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is studying a similar project about 140 kilometers (87 miles) northeast of Sydney.

(By Srinidhi Ragavendran)