Vitality transition: how coal mines might go photo voltaic
by AFP Employees Writers
Bangkok (AFP) June 18, 2025
Disused coal mines could possibly be refashioned to position huge fields of photo voltaic panels, a brand new report suggests, offering an unlikely resolution to a typical impediment to uptake of the inexperienced vitality supply.
A whole lot of decommissioned floor coal mines worldwide supply a substitute for tracts of land that is perhaps wanted for meals or housing, in keeping with World Vitality Monitor (GEM), an non-governmental organisation targeted on fossil gasoline and renewable vitality initiatives.
Deserted coal mines are on land that has already been cleared, and are usually close to electrical grids, making them superb for feeding in renewable vitality.
“Over 300 floor coal mines lately out of fee might home round 103GW of photovoltaic photo voltaic capability, and upcoming closures of enormous operations might host a further 185GW of photo voltaic,” in keeping with the group.
That might permit the world so as to add the equal of 15 % of current world photo voltaic capability by 2030, or about what it takes to energy a rustic the scale of Germany for a yr, GEM added.
And the prospect isn’t just theoretical. Coal mine-to-solar conversions are already taking place in some international locations, most notably China, which leads the world in photo voltaic uptake.
There, 90 conversions with a capability of 14GW have already been accomplished, with one other 9GW in planning, GEM mentioned.
The conversions supply a number of potential advantages, together with a monetary incentive to clean-up deserted coal websites, and the chance to create new jobs in surrounding communities hit by mine closures.
It “is not simply land reclamation — it is an opportunity to align land restoration, clear vitality objectives, and native job creation”, mentioned GEM.
Coal is a polluting fossil gasoline that contributes to local weather change, and phasing out its use is a key a part of the vitality transition.
Nonetheless, there are some important potential obstacles to such conversions, together with tracing land possession in deserted mines.
Allowing and guidelines on returning land to its unique standing may be challenges.
Nonetheless, the most important impediment is more likely to be value, as a result of coal mine-to-solar conversions are costlier than creating photo voltaic land that doesn’t require rehabilitation.
Mine websites may be unstable and comprise poisonous materials.
And close by grid infrastructure beforehand used for regular, baseload coal energy will want upgrading to take care of variable photo voltaic provide.
Nonetheless, report co-author Cheng Cheng Wu mentioned there have been good causes to consider the conversions might pace up.
“Whereas this mannequin might not but be scalable throughout all contexts, we have noticed that coverage course on the subnational stage, focusing on the growth of renewable vitality whereas rehabilitating environmentally degraded land, can drive company curiosity in coal-to-solar repurposing,” she advised AFP.
“The provinces with essentially the most lively initiatives in China are people who have suffered appreciable environmental prices from their mining historical past,” she added.
The upper prices have to be weighed towards the advantages, and co-author Ryan Driskell-Tate mentioned: “Homeowners desirous to launch the belongings, allowing processes, potential neighborhood buy-in, and so forth.”
“I think that is why we’re seeing it emerge in numerous areas and contexts,” he advised AFP.
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