Lausitz: the Energy Region in Southern Brandenburg
The Lausitz region is an “energy powerhouse”. Over 80% of the electricity generated in Brandenburg hails from the Lusatian lignite power plants. The region also features a pilot plant for climate-friendly power generation, as well as state-of-the-art wind and solar power plants.
The “energy region”, which is located in Southern Brandenburg, includes the independent city of Cottbus and the districts of Dahme-Spreewald, Elbe-Elster, Oberspreewald-Lausitz and Spree-Neiße. It enjoys an excellent road infrastructure: the A13 and A15 autobahns connect the region to the north (Berlin and the future Berlin-Brandenburg International airport), to the south (Saxon cities of Dresden and Leipzig, Czech Republic) and to the east (Wroclaw). In short: the energy region is sandwiched between major European cities.
A number of prestigious global players like BASF, EPV Solar, Magna, Vattenfall, Vestas and Voestalpine have already invested here. Several regional growth areas (Cottbus, Spremberg and Westlausitz with the towns of Schwarzheide, Lauchhammer, Senftenberg, Finsterwalde and Grossräschen) offer investors especially attractive development opportunities.
Several institutes of technology (BTU Cottbus, Fachhochschule Lausitz in Senftenberg and Cottbus) are training highly skilled professionals. Investors in the energy region also capitalize on the workforce trained at the institutes of technology in the nearby cities of Berlin, Dresden and Wildau.
Besides the lignite industry, the synthetics/chemical and metal industries have especially evolved in recent years and the photovoltaics industry has also been booming. Many companies in the region (in particular in the synthetics, metal and energy sectors) have teamed up to form networks.
The Lausitz-Spreewald region is the sunniest part of Brandenburg. Its countryside is multifaceted and includes the world-famous Spreewald waterscape with a network of 970 kilometers of rivers and canals. Moreover, former open-cut lignite mines are being converted into Europe’s largest artificial waterscape and Germany’s fourth largest lakeland area. A dense and extensive network of cycle paths rounds off the region’s recreational value and makes Lausitz-Spreewald a place worth living in.
Geographic location: between Berlin and Dresden
Districts: Spree-Neiße, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Elbe-Elster, Dahme-Spreewald
Independent town: Cottbus
Main business locations
Bad Liebenwerda, Elsterwerda, Finsterwalde, Forst (Lausitz), Guben, Herzberg (Elster), Königs Wusterhausen, Lauchhammer, Lübben, Luckau, Schönefeld, Schwarzheide, Senftenberg, Spremberg, Tröbitz, Vetschau/Spreewald , Wildau