DTEK ENERGY signed an agreement to supply 320 thousand tonnes of thermal coal from Poland. The fuel import contract with Bogdanka, a coal mining company, envisages the supply of coal from August 2021 to January 2022 inclusive.
The coal will be used by DTEK ENERGY’s thermal power plants, in particular DTEK WESTENERGY, whose plants are located near the border with Poland. The first shipment is expected as soon as next week.
Coal imports have become possible once the situation on the electricity market returned to normal, which allowed the company to achieve economically justified prices and find the resources required to prepare the generation plants for the autumn and winter season.
‘DTEK ENERGY always acts in the best interests of Ukraine, so it is extremely important to ensure the reliability of the Ukrainian energy system and guarantee that Ukrainians have light and heat in their homes during the heating season. One of the important elements is timely preparation for the autumn and winter season and ensuring that thermal power plants have the necessary amount of fuel in their warehouses to secure uninterrupted operation of both generating and load-following capacities. Coal imports are an extreme and temporary measure implemented to maintain the stable operation of the energy system. Ukrainian coal is our key priority but due to the increased load on our thermal power plants in July we have been forced to look for additional fuel sources,’ informed Ildar Salieiev, DTEK ENERGY CEO.
In the first seven months of 2021, the company’s mines put into operation 17 new longwalls and produced almost 10 million tonnes of G-grade coal. In addition, during the same period, DTEK ENERGY delivered over 318 thousand tonnes of its own coal to state-operated thermal power plants. By 12 August, there were 480 thousand tonnes of coal stocked at DTEK ENERGY’s warehouses. The stock of coals is increased on a daily basis. Apart from Ukrainian coal production and imports from Poland, DTEK ENERGY imports coal from Kazakhstan and has also been discussing coal deliveries with suppliers from the United States.
In July, state-owned and private power generating units were forced to halt their operations due to fuel shortages, abnormally low tariff rates, and repairs. At the same time, DTEK ENERGY’s TPPs almost doubled their average daily output in July compared to June and produced 2.3 billion kWh of electricity at the lowest tariff. More than 1.2 million tonnes of coal were used for this purpose. At the same time, the price of electricity did not even cover the cost of coal.