German Aerospace Center establishes industry decarbonisation institute in lignite area

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) will establish an institute dedicated to decarbonising industrial processes on 1 July. The institute will be located in the eastern German coal mining area of Lusatia and is part of the country’s efforts to foster structural change in regions affected by the coal exit. The institute will aim to convert Lusatia into a “hub for the development of low CO2 technologies” and will not only preserve jobs in existing power plants but also create new highly qualified ones, according to the state government. In cooperation with coal plant operator LEAG, the institute plans to convert a coal-fired power station into a low-emission energy storage pilot project. LEAG plans to build a large-scale battery at its power station “Schwarze Pumpe” near the Brandenburg town of Spremberg in what it calls a project that is “unique in Europe”.

As Germany transitions to renewable energy, the federal government has earmarked 40 billion euros to support structural change in lignite mining regions. The establishment of the new DLR Institute is one of the projects funded by the government to contribute to structural change in the lignite regions. Research by the DLR covers aeronautics, space, energy, transport, digitalisation and security.