Abandoned and soon-to-be-closed coal mines offer the potential to install nearly 300 GW of solar PV capacity globally
Most of these sites are located closer to grid infrastructure, which will help make solar projects more cost-competitive
It can create more than 570,000 jobs while repurposing 5,820 km² of degraded land
Coal mines abandoned over the last 5 years, and the ones soon to be closed, carry the potential to host nearly 300 GW of solar PV capacity, enough to power a country the size of Germany for a year, according to a new analysis from Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
It identified 312 surface coal mines idled and degraded since 2020 to carry the potential to site 103 GW of solar power capacity. Another 185 GW of solar can be located on 127 sites that are due for closure by 2030.
Around 95% of the global coal is produced by 3,800 coal mines at present, but as 33 countries move to phase out coal, including major producers like China and India, thousands of mines will eventually be abandoned. These closures will leave behind vast, degraded landscapes which can be repurposed as solar power plants, argue the writers. What is interesting is their location close to the grid network, which can make these projects more cost-competitive.
The study draws from GEM’s Global Coal Mine Tracker to map over 5,800 km² of degraded land across 446 mines with repurposing potential.
China alone has 90 operational coal mines representing a combined 14 GW capacity, due to be transitioned from coal to solar. The country has another 46 projects with a collective 9 GW in planning, to be repurposed.
The next 4 major coal producers – Australia, the US, Indonesia and India – have nearly 3 quarters of the global potential for coal-to-solar solutions, according to the report (see 17 Solar & Storage Projects To Transform Former Coal Mines In US).
GEM believes that converting old mine sites to solar could support the global goal of tripling renewables capacity and encourage mine site cleanup.
Additionally, this coal-to-solar transition can create 259,700 permanent jobs on site, and another 317,500 temporary and construction jobs. It will be more than the number of workers that the coal industry is expected to shed globally by 2035, add the writers.
“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,” said GEM Project Manager for the Energy Transition Tracker, Cheng Cheng Wu. “With the right choices, the same ground that powered the industrial era can help power the climate solutions we now urgently need.”
Nevertheless, the report writers admit that transforming abandoned coal mines into solar farms is costlier than building on greenfield sites due to challenging terrain and remediation needs. For instance, the weighted cost for utility-scale solar, including on greenfield sites, is as high as around $1.5 million/MW. Projects on former mine lands often exceed these figures.
However, falling solar costs, efficiency gains, and supportive policies like tax incentives can make these projects economically competitive or even favorable, reads the report.
“Acquiring land for global renewable energy targets has been rife with conflicts among stakeholders and decision-makers, so repurposing degraded lands could provide salient new benefits to former coal communities across the planet,” said GEM Associate Director Ryan Driskell Tate.
The complete GEM report titled Bright side of the mine: Solar’s opportunity to reclaim coal’s footprint, is available for free download on its website.