Coal in Russia
Coal power in Russia is one of the largest sources of energy in Russia, accounting for 14.4% of the country's energy consumption.[1] The prominence of coal power in Russia has been declining since 1990, although Russia has among the largest coal reserves in the world.[2] Russia is the fifth largest consumer of coal in the world and is the sixth largest producer of coal.[3]
Coal reserves
Russia has the second largest coal reserves in the world, equaling 19% of the world's total. The total coal reserves in Russia amount to 173 billion tons.[3] This puts Russia behind the United States in total coal reserves, which has 263 billion tons.[4][5] Most of Russia's coal reserves are in the Kuznetsk and Kansk-Achinsk basins.[6]
Coal production
Russia is currently sixth in the world in terms of coal production. It produced 323 million tons of coal in 2009, roughly 4% of the world's total production.[5][3] Coal production decreased in the 1990s with the fall of the Soviet Union, going from a production of 425 million tons in 1988 to 232 million tons in 1998. Production began to recover in 2003 and reached 329 million tons, although production has declined since then.[4][5] The major areas of coal production are the Donets, Moscow, Pechora, Kuznetsk, Kansk-Achinsk, Irkutsk and South Yakutsk basins.[6] The two major coal producers in Russia are Rosugol and Donugol. Over two-thirds of coal produced in Russia is used domestically.[4]
| Year | Coal Production (Million tons) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 425 | ||||||
| 1990 | 395 | ||||||
| 1998 | 232 | ||||||
| 2000 | 258 | ||||||
| 2003 | 277 | ||||||
| 2004 | 284 | ||||||
| 2005 | 300 | ||||||
| 2006 | 309 | ||||||
| 2008 | 329 | ||||||
| 2009 | 323 | ||||||
| Sources: [4][5][2] | |||||||
Coal consumption
Russia is self-sufficient in coal, and consumed 223 million tons of coal in 2009.[4] The percentage of coal in Russian power generation has been declining since 1990, when it was 20.7%, due to increasing gas consumption as well as increasing nuclear and hydroelectric energy production.[2] Currently only 14.4% of Russia's power is produced from coal.[1]
References
- 1 2 "Russia's energy: electric power sector". Russian-American Business. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- 1 2 3 Dmitry Sokolov (15 October 2007). "Coal Supply Outlook in Russia" (PDF). Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- 1 2 3 "Coal Mining in the Russian Federation". MBendi Information Services. 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Russia- Electricity". U.S. Energy Information Administration. November 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 "Coalmining in Russia". Ignatov & Company Group. October 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- 1 2 Peter Lawson (2002). "An Introduction to the Russian Coal Industry" (PDF). Retrieved 2 February 2011.