Thorsten Kramer stands on the edge of the Cottbuser Ostsee and talks in superlatives. „We want to become the largest producer of green electricity in Germany,“ says the CEO of the energy company Leag, which has up to now made its money from lignite. The company mined coal here from 1981 to 2015, and the country's largest so-called post-mining lake is now to be seen. In the background, the blocks of the large Jänschwalde power plant, where lignite will be used to generate electricity until 2028, are smoking. But mechanical engineer Kramer, who started the comprehensive transformation at the beginning of 2022, is sure that Leag can reinvent itself as a „green powerhouse“. „This can then be a blueprint for the entire energy transition in Germany,“ says the 62-year-old.

On the banks of the massive artificial lake, which is currently still flooded with groundwater and especially Spree river water, work is currently underway on Germany's most extensive floating solar system. When the more than 51,000 modules are mounted on the floating units, they will cover an area of ​​16 hectares in just a few months, roughly the size of 23 football fields. Around 1% of the lake is then covered. The 29-megawatt floating PV system could theoretically cover the annual electricity consumption of 8,250 households. For the Leag boss, this lighthouse project has „national appeal“ in the energy transformation.

Kramer and Dominique Guillou, head of the newly founded Leag Renewables, have been working on the future idea of ​​a „gigawatt factory“ for two years. The goals have been set: By 2030, the group wants to have built a portfolio of 7 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energies. 1.2 GW of this is already in the planning or implementation phase. The floating solar system on the Baltic Sea is, of course, also part of it.

The supervisory board announced the new holding structure of Leag and the establishment of new operating companies in June, days after Brussels approved 1.75 billion euros in state aid.

There had been months of wrangling in Brussels over a state aid process. It was about compensation that Leag should receive for the politically decided early phase-out of coal. In principle, in Lusatia there will be a coal phase-out by 2038– unlike in the Rhine mining area, where the date of 2030 has been firmly agreed with RWE. But Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has recently repeatedly said that a „market-driven“ earlier exit is also conceivable in East Germany. In other words, CO2 prices are already making coal-fired power generation no longer worthwhile.

The environmental protection organisation, BUND in Saxony, is therefore concerned about Leag's new corporate structure, and fears that the coal units could go bankrupt, and that the states will then be left with the renaturation and perpetual burden of decades of mining. „Ultimately, rising CO2 prices will force coal-fired power plants out of the market by 2030. The longer those responsible close their eyes to economic reality, the more likely Leag will become insolvent,“ warned Felix Ekardt, chairman of BUND Sachsen, at the beginning of August.

Leag boss Kramer, on the other hand, points out that the responsible pension companies have already received funds from the group in the high three-digit million range, and that funds are now also flowing from the compensation payments. A declaration of intent to secure the renaturation costs was also recently concluded with the states of Brandenburg and Saxony. The Leag management explains the organisational separation of the new and old business areas, among other things, with better access to the banks that the renewable companies would have in the future.

However, CEO Kramer also admits in an interview that things would have been difficult with the big green agenda if the EU competition authority had continued to block the billions in state aid. Because then Leag would have had to pay the renaturation costs from the current cash flow. That would have delayed a lot of things.

The opencast mining in the Lusatian district in Jänschwalde, and near the large power plants Schwarze Pumpe and Boxberg, have led to so-called post-mining land of around 33,000 hectares. The land that the excavators left behind is now being reforested. This means that Leag has the potential for the construction of wind farms and photovoltaic systems, which is a real treasure: Huge areas. Apartments are distant. And the necessary infrastructure is often already in place.

In the recultivation of Jänschwalde, large machines are already in use to prepare the loose subsoil for the construction of wind turbines using „vibratory pressure compaction“. The „Forst Briesnig II“ wind farm with an output of 105 MW is scheduled to go online here in mid-2026. „Forst Briesnig III“ on a similar scale is already being planned.

The current pipeline of the Gigawatt Factory even includes projects with a total capacity of 12 GW. This also includes hydrogen production, energy storage and hydrogen-capable gas power plants. New power plants with a generation capacity of 3 GW are currently planned by 2030. By 2040, there should be up to 5 GW. „We don’t want to let our position as the second-largest electricity supplier in the country be disputed,“ explains restructuring specialist Kramer, who, among other things, advised global industrial and energy plant manufacturers before his time in Lusatia.

He meets regularly with Leag's owner, the Czech investor Daniel Křetínský, to discuss the company's realignment. In addition to Leag, the busy billionaire has also owned Mibrag since 2016, which is responsible for brown coal production in the smaller Central German region. The reorganization of both companies resulted in synergies: The core of the new Leag Renewables was Křetínský's previous EP New Energies, which has also already planned wind and solar systems for Mibrag.

Křetínský has already established further connections to the Ruhr area. His entry into Germany's largest steel manufacturer, Thyssenkrupp, was expressly linked to the expectation of being able to act as a strategic partner for the energy supply of the Ruhr group, which was also struggling with its transformation. Specifically mentioned were the delivery of hydrogen, green electricity and the provision of other energy raw materials. The green reinvention of Leag and Mibrag should be the basis for these considerations. A long-term, secure supply of hydrogen would definitely be vitally crucial for Thyssenkrupp's ailing steel division.

Like RWE in the Rhineland, Křetínský's plans have now also ushered in the last years of the lignite industry in eastern Germany. This means that another chapter in the energy transition will be closed for the foreseeable future – even if the exact final year for the phase-out has not yet been determined.

The gross electricity production in lignite-fired power plants – which is considered to be the generation with the highest CO2 emissions – was 87.2 terawatt hours (TWh) last year, which still corresponded to a share of 17% of German electricity production. Compared to 1990, the year of reunification, brown coal power generation has roughly halved. Less than a third of the lignite mining areas at that time remain today. The industry's workforce of almost 130,000 at the time was reduced to just over 17,000. There are still 7,600 employees in Lusatia.

The fact that villages are still being excavated is not met with universal understanding. In Saxony, it is the small Sorbian town of Mühlrose that is the last to fall victim to the Lusatian Nochtem opencast mine. One hundred fifty million tons of coal are stored underground here. Leag would like to burn them in the nearby Boxberg power plant. The residents receive compensation – and can look for a new home seven kilometres away in „Neu-Mühlrose“.