TOP 10

Image credit :

Raimond Spekking . Bucket wheel excavators in Garzweiler surface mine

Germany

In the North-Rhine valley of Germany , the Garzweiler coal mine has an incredible size of 48sqkm and uses giant , bucketwheel excavators to cut through the ground .

The Garzweiler mine operates in a three-shift system and extracts as much as 30mn tonnes of lignite annually . The extracted lignite is then conveyed through a belt and transported via industrial railway to the Neurath and Niederaussem power stations , where it is utilised for power generation .

It is not yet known what effect the plan to phase out all coal-fired power plants in Germany by 2038 will have on the Garzweiler lignite mine system .

Image credit : Martin Falbisoner . 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 .