Brown coal - a guarantee of energy security

In every sequent five-year period a power station with installed power of about 4 to 5 thousand MW, that is comparable to Bełchatów power station, should commence its operation.

Brown coal should be a cheap and effective raw material for new power blocks. Its reserves in Poland are one of the largest in the World. More than 150 brown coal deposits and carboniferous areas have been surveyed. Over 14 bln tons of reserves have been documented in proven deposits and more than 60 bln tons in estimated ones. The possibility of brown coal occurrence in potentially carboniferous areas is assessed for more than 140 bln tons. The trouble is that this energy carrier is believed to be dirty and burdensome in exploitation. The scientists say that this bad opinion should and can be changed.

Five mines

At present brown coal is exploited on the territory of Poland in five mines, in which three are multi-opencast ones: „Adamów”, „Bełchatów”, „Konin” one is mono-opencast mine „Turów” and scarce production is carried out in „Sieniawa” mine. There is the same number of brown coal power plants.

The reserves of the deposits are slowly depleting. The mines are preparing for commencing of successive opencast sites on their areas but this will not guarantee the maintenance of production on the up-to-date level for more than 15 years (annually about 60 million tons). At present the share of brown coal in production of electric energy in our country is about 34 per cent. Total power of the five Polish brown coal power stations is about 9 Thos. MW. Therefore the scientists, power generators and miners are looking with greater and greater interest at Legnica on the area of which the are reserves of about 15 bln tons of brown coal. This is the largest such deposit in the World.

– Provided the successive deposits will not be developed, then in 2023 the brown coal production will decrease. The life span of the presently functioning opencast mines is coming to an end and therefore without commencing of new opencast sites the production of electric energy based on this fuel will be reduced. The construction of a mine lasts about 12 years - says the Secretary of the Steering Committee for Preparation of Management of Legnica Brown Coal Mining - Energy Production Basin, prof. Zbigniew Kasztelewicz from the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Cracow.

Reserves twice as large

The reserves of Legnica Basin are twice as large as total deposits being exploited in our country so far. The problems regarding with ecological hardship of this energy raw material can be solved. Poland administers with scientific, designing and technical infrastructure capable to match the requirements of a continuous rising of the efficiency of brown coal power stations in order to decrease the emission of carbon dioxide to atmosphere. There are old, abandoned copper mine workings in the vicinity of Legnica in which this burdensome gas could be stored. In the course of years the engineers will, for sure, develop zero-emission technologies of brown coal combustion. With regard to reclamation and management of the terrains after termination of brown coal deposits’\' exploitation Poland is already the example to be followed by the other states. This mineral is more and more universally regarded as the foundation of the energy security not only of our country.