Photovoltaics on the pit and spoil tips
The basin floor, the inner slopes and the Sophienhöhe spoil tip are all usable surfaces. Three build-out scenarios, all compatible with local land-use after mining ends.
Open project · Looking for partners
From lignite to light.
From lignite to light.
Hambach — Energy Transition Hub.
A practical concept for the Hambach basin after coal phase-out: large-scale photovoltaics, green hydrogen and heat recovery from the Niederaussem cooling loop. An open project — industry, institutions and investors are invited to shape it.
~40 Mt
CO₂ / year at Niederaussem at full load
~8,000 ha
area of the Hambach basin and spoil tips
~450 M m³
cooling water cycled each year
~22 TWh
plant output — grid link already in place
Stage · Concept study
Region · Rhineland, Germany
Lead · ITC Europe
Open to partners
The Hambach pit does not need to stay a wound in the landscape. With the infrastructure of Niederaussem already in place, the basin can become one of Europe's most credible sites for an integrated solar, hydrogen and heat-recovery programme — something Europe genuinely needs.Wolfgang Beick · President, ITC Europe
01 — Why Hambach
A scar that can be turned into infrastructure.
The Hambach open-pit mine is one of the largest human-made excavations in Europe. Lignite extraction has been drawing down for years, and the nearby Niederaussem power plant is being phased out together with the rest of Germany's coal fleet. What remains is a prepared site: a basin with road and rail access, grid connections, water management and an industrial workforce ready to reskill.
The question is not whether this landscape will be redeveloped — it is what it becomes. The Hambach Energy Transition Hub is our answer: a programme that treats the pit as an asset, not a liability.
~40 Mt
CO₂ per year emitted by Niederaussem at full load
~8,000 ha
Hambach basin and adjoining spoil tips
~450 M m³
Cooling water cycled through the plant yearly
~22 TWh
Peak output — the grid link is already built
Site · 8,000 ha
One basin. One grid node. Three technologies.
Everything the programme needs — surface area, water, grid capacity, skilled labour — is already on the ground.
02 — The concept
Three technologies, one site, one grid connection.
Hambach is unusual: the renewable source, the conversion plant and the grid access sit within the same industrial footprint. That removes most of the cost and most of the permitting pain from an otherwise very ambitious programme.
Green hydrogen via Niederaussem
The existing 22 TWh-class grid connection becomes the off-take for electrolysis. Hydrogen is stored and shipped to industrial customers in the Rhineland — chemicals, steel, mobility.
Heat recovery from the cooling loop
The 450 M m³/year of cooling water is currently a thermal loss. A recovery stage feeds low-grade heat into district networks and greenhouses surrounding the basin.
03 — Scenarios
Three build-outs, three CO₂ savings curves.
The numbers below assume average German irradiation of ~1,100 kWh/m²·year and the specific yield of current c-Si modules. They are order-of-magnitude guides for conversations with partners, not final engineering.
| Build-out | PV band width | Annual generation | CO₂ saved vs. lignite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A · Entry | 1,500 m band | ~1.1 TWh/yr | ~663,000 t/yr | Spoil-tip + inner-slope first phase |
| B · Mid | 2,000 m band | ~2.0 TWh/yr | ~1.18 M t/yr | Adds floor-level PV, partial electrolysis |
| C · Full | 2,500 m band | ~3.1 TWh/yr | ~1.84 M t/yr | Full canopy + hydrogen + heat recovery |
04 — Who this is for
Four kinds of partners shape this project.
Industrial off-takers
Chemicals, steel, glass, logistics — anyone who can absorb green hydrogen or low-carbon power at scale in the Rhineland corridor.
- Chemicals
- Steel
- Mobility
Utilities and grid operators
The Niederaussem node is one of the most powerful in Western Europe. A utility partner turns that asset into a steady renewable feed.
- TSO
- DSO
- Utility
Public institutions
Federal and Länder bodies, local authorities, EU programmes. Hambach sits inside several just-transition and innovation funding streams.
- EU
- Federal
- Länder
Investors and developers
Infrastructure funds, project developers and EPC contractors willing to co-lead the engineering phases alongside ITC Europe.
- Infra funds
- EPC
- Dev partners
Detail · PV wall
A canopy that earns its land.
Module layouts designed for the slope geometry of the basin, with access corridors for maintenance and later expansion.
05 — How we work together
A staged path from concept to financing decision.
Exploration call
A 30-minute conversation to see if the scope, geography and timeline fit your organisation.
Scoped workshop
We map the parts of the programme you can lead, co-fund or off-take. Technical leads from both sides take part.
Joint pre-feasibility
A bounded study (3–6 months) producing the numbers needed for an investment decision or a public funding bid.
Consortium
If the pre-feasibility lands, the partners form a consortium to carry the engineering, permitting and financing phase.
On the ground
Already walking the site. Now looking for partners.
Early technical dialogue with local stakeholders is under way. A broader consortium is the next step.
06 — Join the project
Write to us. Bring a question, a capacity, or a mandate.
We treat every serious message as a conversation, not a pitch. Tell us briefly who you represent and what part of the programme you are curious about — we will come back with a short, specific reply.
Project inquiries
info@itc-europe.com
Working languages: English · German · Polish.