Coal power 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]

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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. ^ a b "Russia's energy: electric power sector". Russian-American Business. June 21, 2010. http://russianamericanbusiness.org/web_CURRENT/articles/595/1/Russia%92s-energy%3A-electric-power-sector. Retrieved 2011-02-02. 
  2. ^ a b c Dmitry Sokolov (October 15, 2007). "Coal Supply Outlook in Russia". http://www.egcfe.ewg.apec.org/publications/proceedings/CFE/Xian_2007/6-4_Sokolov.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-02. 
  3. ^ a b c "Coal Mining in the Russian Federation". MBendi Information Services. 2010. http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/coal/as/ru/p0005.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-02. 
  4. ^ a b c d e "Russia- Electricity". U.S. Energy Information Administration. November 2010. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Russia/Electricity.html. Retrieved 2011-02-02. 
  5. ^ a b c d "Coalmining in Russia". Ignatov & Company Group. October 2010. http://www.russiancoal.com/. Retrieved 2011-02-02. 
  6. ^ a b Peter Lawson (2002). "An Introduction to the Russian Coal Industry". http://www.mma1.com/company/pdf/papers/An%20Introduction%20of%20the%20Russian%20Coal%20Industry.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-02. 

See also