Garzweiler surface mine


The Tagebau Garzweiler is a surface mine in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite. The mine currently has a size of 48 km² and got its name from the village of which previously existed at this location. The community was moved to a section of Jüchen with the same name.

The open-pit mine

The mine is located west of Grevenbroich and exploitation is progressing towards Erkelenz. Mining was originally limited to the 66.0 km² area Garzweiler I located east of motorway A 44. Mining in the 48.0 km² Garzweiler II sector started in 2006 and it will take until around 2045 to fully exploit both sectors. The lignite is used for power generation at nearby power plants such as Neurath and Niederaußem.
It is not yet known what effect the upcoming plan to phase out all coal-fired power plants in Germany by 2038 will have on the Garzweiler lignite mine system.

Traffic

Motorways A 44 and A 61 crossing the planned mine area are also affected. The A 44 was closed in 2005, dismantled in 2006 and traffic rerouted to the widened A 61 and A 46 motorways. In 2017, as the mine expanded to the west, the A 61 was closed with traffic diverted onto a stretch of newly built A 44 to the east of its original route.