Turning recently closed coalmines into solar energy plants could add almost 300GW of renewable energy by 2030, converting derelict wastelands to productive use, according to a new report.
In a first of its kind analysis, researchers fromGlobal Energy Monitor(GEM) identified 312 surface coalmines closed since 2020 around the world, and 134 likely to close by the end of the decade, together covering 5,820 sq km (2,250 sq miles) – a land area nearly the size of Palestine.
Strip mining turns terrains into wastelands, polluted and denuded of topsoil. But if they were filled with solar panels and developed into energy plants, the report claims, they could generate enough energy to power as big and power hungry a nation as Germany.
Cheng Cheng Wu, the project manager for the energy transition tracker at GEM, said: “The legacy of coal is written into the land, but that legacy does not have to define the future. The coalmine to solar transition is under way, and this potential is ready to be unlocked in major coal producers like Australia, the US, Indonesia and India.
“Repurposing mines for solar development offers a rare chance to bring together land restoration, local job creation, and clean energy deployment in a single strategy. With the right choices, the same ground that powered the industrial era can help power the climate solutions we now urgently need.”
Once lauded as exploiting the “buried sunshine” of the past, burning coal for energy is gradually being phased out around the world because of its high carbon emissions. At the same time, solar energy has become more accessible and affordable.
In 2024, 599GW of solar energy capacity was installed around the world, and there are more than 2,000GW of utility scale solar projects in development, GEM said. Globally, the total installed photovoltaic capacity late last year surpassed 2TW (terawatts), according to the Global Solar Council.
But the need for space to lay out sufficient solar panels has led to land use conflicts, with the farming and nature conservation lobbies – among others – objecting to solar developments.
Using mined-out lands could be a partial solution to such conflicts, GEM says, adding that such sites were already primed for development, with 96% of recently abandoned mines less than 10km from an electricity grid.
It would also mitigate unemployment crises in former coal communities, such as those in many parts of the UK when the government shut down the country’s coal industry in the 1980s.
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GEM estimates that 259,700 permanent jobs in manufacturing, wholesale trade and distribution, and professional services could be created at coal-to-solar transition sites, and an additional 317,500 temporary and construction jobs – together, more than the number of workers the coal industry will shed by 2035.
Ryan Driskell Tate, an associate director at GEM, said: “We’ve seen what happens in coal communities when companies go bankrupt, axe the workers, and leave a mess behind. But mined-out coalfields harbour huge potential for powering a clean energy future.
“It’s already happening. We just need the right mix of incentives to put people to work building the next generation of solar in coal country.”