Hambach Mine is located between Jülich in the Düren district and Kerpen (Rhein-Erft district) in the heart of the Rhenish lignite mining area. Opencast mining started in 1978 near the Hambach district of Niederzier. At peak times, the opencast mine, which temporarily was up to 411 metres deep, produced so much lignite for the company's own power plants that it covered five per cent of Germany's total electricity demand.

Giant bucket wheel excavators, each up to 240 metres long, are the symbol of lignite mining in the Rhineland region. Hambach Mine engages the world's largest self-propelled machines. They can extract up to 240,000 solid cubic meters of coal or soil every day, enough to fill a football stadium 30 metres high.

In 2029, coal extraction in the Hambach opencast mine will end as part of the statutory coal phase-out. Several major regional planning, mining law and water management approval procedures are currently underway. They will determine how the landscape, characterised by a large lake and forest, will look like which the opencast mine will leave behind. For example, the Hambach lignite mining plan was amended. Another planning approval procedure is ongoing that will decide on the design of the opencast lake in detail. At the same time, another lignite plan procedure will secure the route for the outlet of the future lake.