Ex-Coal Mines Become Solar Energy Hubs

The American state of Virginia is turning over a new leaf by repurposing surface coal mines to harvest the ever renewable energy source that is the sun, thus turning wasteland into a productive and lucrative venture.

“Reusing land like former coal mines makes a lot of sense instead of looking at prime farmland… or lands near populated areas where there may be conflict,” says Daniel Kestner, manager of the Innovative Reclamation Program for the state’s energy department. 

In 2019, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) acquired 101,171 hectares of land in the central Appalachian Mountains. The U.S.-based environmental nonprofit identified six sites for solar plants in the region, and an initial 690-hectare section of former mining land will be turned into a new source of green energy. Sun Tribe and Dominion Energy are working together to produce some 120 megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough energy to power about 30,000 homes – and plan to add 16,000 MW to the state’s power grid by 2035. The state of Virginia signed a clean energy bill in 2020, and across the country, the number of coal mines dropped by 62% between 2008 and 2020.