The Hambach Mine is located between Jülich in the Düren district and Kerpen in the Rhein-Erft district, at the center of Germany’s Rhenish lignite mining region. Opencast mining operations began in 1978 near the Hambach district of Niederzier. At its peak, the mine reached a depth of up to 411 meters and produced enough lignite to supply around five percent of Germany’s total electricity demand, primarily fueling the company’s own power plants. (RWE, n.d.).
Giant bucket wheel excavators, some stretching up to 240 meters in length, are iconic symbols of lignite mining in the Rhineland. At the Hambach Mine, these colossal self-propelled machines rank among the largest in the world. Each one is capable of extracting up to 240,000 cubic meters of coal or overburden per day; enough material to fill a football stadium to a height of 30 meters (RWE, n.d.).
Coal extraction at the Hambach opencast mine is set to end in 2029 as part of Germany’s legally mandated coal phase-out. In preparation for this transition, several key regional planning, mining law, and water management approval processes are currently underway. These will shape the future landscape of the area, which will be defined by a large lake and surrounding forest once mining operations cease (RWE, n.d.).
Notably, the Hambach lignite mining plan has already been amended to reflect these changes. In parallel, a separate planning approval process is in progress to determine the detailed design of the future opencast lake. Additionally, another lignite planning procedure is being carried out to secure the route for the lake’s future outflow system (RWE, n.d.).
