East German mining company scraps Lusatia mine expansion plans

In a far-reaching decision, eastern German energy company and operator of one of the country’s largest lignite mining operations LEAG scrapped plans by former owner Vattenfall to expand one of its lignite mines, and downsizing or putting on hold other development plans. While politicians and the industry said the company’s medium-term plans for the region still provided stability, other observes said the decision was the “beginning of the end” of lignite in Lusatia and Germany. LEAG’s move comes as a relief for those villagers who would have had to relocate.

Find LEAG's press release in German here.

Find background information in CLEW's factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal?

The Clean Energy Wire will publish an article on this topic later today.