German firm LEAG to invest 200 million euros in renewable energy storage

German company Lausitz Energie (LEAG), which mines coal and generates electricity, plans to build a renewable energy storage system in the eastern part of the country. It will invest 200 million euros (CZK 4.8 billion) in the project. Reuters reported this today. LEAG is part of businessman Daniel Křetínský’s Energy and Industrial Holding (EPH) group and, according to information on its website, is the largest energy company in eastern Germany.

Germany and other European countries will gradually phase out carbon-intensive fossil fuels. They will also need more storage facilities to manage fluctuations in solar and wind power generation.

LEAG said it had signed an agreement with US energy storage systems manufacturer ESS Tech to build a 50-megawatt (MW)/500-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery system at the Boxberg lignite power plant. It is expected to be commissioned in 2027.

LEAG aims to bring seven gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind capacity online by 2030 and invest one billion euros a year for the rest of this decade in renewable energy development. Last September, the company announced plans to build a 1,000-megawatt (MW) solar farm, equivalent to the energy produced by a nuclear power plant capable of supplying around two million households. It could open in early 2026.