Welcome to LEAG
LEAG is one of the largest electricity and heat producers in Europe. LEAG is the joint brand of the two central, operative companies Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG and Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG. Both companies are each held to 50 per cent by Energetický a Průmyslový Holding (EPH) and by the PPF Investments.
Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG, in charge of lignite mining in Lusatia, and Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG with its lignite and gas fired power stations in Brandenburg and Saxony and the pumped storage power stations in Middle Germany form the strong backbone of the German generation division.
LEAG is not only one of the most important energy providers but also one of the largest employers and companies taking on trainees in the east of Germany. The demand for goods and services in turn safeguards thousands of jobs in other companies. The active promotion of new technologies for the responsible use of resources gives impetus to the entire region.
The lignite field of Lusatia
All activities regarding the mining, refining and conversion into electricity of the domestic energy carrier are combined in the Lignite Mining & Generation Business Unit (BU).
The BU Lignite operates five open-cast pits and three power stations in the Lusatian lignite field. In addition, Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG is the operator of the Lippendorf power station near Leipzig and owner of one of the two generating units. Briquettes, pulverised lignite and fluidised-bed lignite are produced from the Lusatian lignite at the Schwarze Pumpe upgrading site.
With more than 8,000 employees, including more than 700 trainees, the BU Lignite is headquartered in Cottbus. In 2013, Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG mined 63.6 million tons of Lusatian lignite and generated approximately 57 billion kilowatt hours of electricity from lignite.
Land restoration — The landscape after mining
In Lusatia, not a single ton of lignite is excavated unless it has been determined beforehand how the intervention into the existing landscape caused by the mining process will be compensated. Nature protection laws not only obligate us to restrict intervention into nature to what is unavoidable but also to remove the consequences of such intervention quickly, efficiently and sustainably.
More than half of the landscape consumed by mining is reforested. This is a unique chance for large-scale forest conversion. Such silvicultural aims can otherwise be achieved only across generations of foresters. Up to now, 30 million trees and shrubs have been planted on dump spaces in Lusatia. The relatively young forests around Cottbus, Spremberg and Weißwasser have long proven that species-rich wood with a high portion of deciduous trees can also be planted on dump areas.
The mining industry installs agricultural land on about ten per cent of the post-mining areas which in the future will serve as a source of income for farmers in Lusatia. Even viniculture has been established in Lusatia's post-mining landscapes.
New species-specific habitats for nature conservation are created on about 15 per cent of the total spaces remaining after mining. Even animal species more and more disturbed by man-made landscapes find a place to live there. While in recent years the main focus has been on the development and integration of individual biotopes, open-cast mining is now creating large interconnected areas which will be reserved for nature protection in the future. A large number of animal species have found habitats on post-mining land. Not only the European hare but also kingfisher, partridge and quail are using recultivated dump areas as their refuge. Immigrants as well, such as the wolf, accept the still developing landscape as their place of rest.