The Inden opencast mine of RWE Power AG is located in the Rhenish lignite mining area near Inden, between Eschweiler and Jülich. The annual production is 22 million tons of lignite and is used exclusively to supply the Weisweiler power plant. The coal seams are up to 45 meters thick. The dismantling takes place with the help of bucket wheel excavators, the backfilling before the recultivation with spreaders. This company employs 850 people. The opencast mine is expected to be in 2030
The Inden opencast mine has lignite reserves of 440 million tons that can still be mined. The lignite originated from extensive forests and moors that developed in the Lower Rhine Bay 30 to 5 million years ago. The geology of the Lower Rhine Bay is characterized by long-lasting subsidence movements over the last 30 million years.