“German coal mine to be reborn as giant pumped hydropower battery”
An abandoned coal mine in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia is set to become a 200 megawatt pumped hydropower storage capable of powering over 400,000 households, Brian Parkin reports for Bloomberg. The 600-metre deep Prosper-Haniel hard coal mine “will keep playing a role in providing uninterrupted power for the country”, Parkin quotes the state’s premier Hannelore Kraft. The mine’s conversion could revitalise the local economy, which for long has relied on coal mining as a key economic activity, and foster the expansion of renewables “by helping to maintain electric capacity even when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine”, Parkin writes.
Read the article in English here.
For more information, see the CLEW factsheet How can Germany keep the lights on in a renewable energy future?