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• Converting abandoned or soon-to-close surface coal mines into solar farms could generate nearly 300 GW of renewable energy, enough to power a country the size of Germany.
• Global Energy Monitor (GEM) identified 312 surface coal mines (2,089 km²) shut since 2020, with an additional 3,731 km² expected to be abandoned by 2030, totaling 5,820 km² of potential solar land from 446 mines.
• This potential capacity (300 GW) is equivalent to about 15% of the current global installed solar capacity.
• China is currently leading in coal-to-solar projects, with 90 operational projects (14 GW capacity) and 46 more in the pipeline.
• The top four major coal producers hold nearly 75% of the global potential for these transitions.
• Greece is highlighted as “exceptionally well-suited” for this transition due to high solar potential, a 2026 coal phaseout goal, and supportive EU funding.
• Converting these degraded lands offers benefits such as land restoration, local job creation, and clean energy deployment.
• An estimated 259,700 permanent jobs and 317,500 temporary/construction jobs could be created, exceeding the number of workers the coal industry is expected to shed globally by 2035.
• This approach provides an economic incentive for cleaning up and reclaiming abandoned mine sites, addressing the environmental scars often left behind.