KOLUBARA. newsletter. issue 12 june 2014 monthly newsletter

Transcription

1 KOLUBARA newsletter issue 12 june 2014 monthly newsletter

2 Production capacities recovery There are ongoing activities of recovery from the consequences of the floods in the Mining basin Kolubara. This flood wave incurred major damage to production units of the biggest coal producer in the country. In both active open pit mines, in the eastern part of the mining basin, Field D and B, the production process renewal is in progress. In each mine, one coal production system started operation. In the field D, the last phase of the preparation for including another system into operation is ongoing. In addition to all problems caused by the floods, MB Kolubara daily dispatches around 25 thousand tons of lignite per day to TPP NT, which is at this point maximum quantity, but production increase is expected when one more system has been put into operation. In one of two Tamnava mines, the OPM Veliki Crljeni, pumping out of water by means of seven pumps is underway, and up to now the water level has been lowered by cca. 30cm. 3 rd June, 2014

3 Another 20,000 tons of coal per day from Kolubara In the open pit mine Field D, the other coal production system has been put into operation, thus securing the additional quantities of coal from Mining basin Kolubara for electricity production. When visiting the field D, Mr. Milorad Grčić, director of MB Kolubara said to the press that, from now on, daily coal production from Kolubara and delivery to TPPNT would increase to 45,000 tons of coal per day, and it would stay this way until the mine Veliki Crljeni is activated. Since the start of operation of the first coal system after the floods, over the past 12 days, from Mining basin Kolubara, on average, around 20,000 tons of coal was being sent to the thermal capacities. -If it had not been a great effort put by the employees, we would not now start another coal production system in the Field D, thereby significantly stabilizing the power system of Serbia. At this point, for activating the Tamnava mines we need pumps of high capacity for pumping out water from the mines Veliki Crljeni and Tamnava West field and starting the production in these mines, which were the backbone of Kolubara s production up to now. The lignite in ECL system (excavator-conveyor-loading) of the Field D is excavated by the BWE 7 ( glodar 7 ), known as the blue bird (plava ptica). After the flood wave passed, parts of the conveying system were flooded, so the reconstruction of this production system was carried out, and it is now in operation. In MB Kolubara, the floods consequences recovery activities are being intensively carried out because of the major damage it made to production units of the biggest coal producer in the country, and this company does its best to maintain the power system stability. 5 th June, 2014

4 Recovery of OPM Veliki Crljeni in progress Since the start of the water pumping out from the OPM Veliki Crljeni, the water level dropped by 70cm up to now. In addition to existing pumps owned by MB Kolubara, working on water pumping out up to now, another five pumps are engaged. Three of these pumps are from JKP Vodovod i kanalizacija, Novi Sad and two pumps from JVP Vojvodinavode, Novi Sad. With these pumps put to operation, the water pumping out capacity has risen. Now all pumps together are now pumping out around three cubic meters of water per second from this Tamnava mine. Parallel to the pumping out process, the works of mounting five conveyors have started in OPM Veliki Crljeni, for coal dispatch from the mine to the Crushing plant, i.e. the plant for coal preparation. Mounting works started with the aim of preparing the routes and conveyors for the start of coal production in this open pit mine. 10 th June, 2014

5 Miners put their best efforts Since the third system for coal production is in operation in the OPMs of MB Kolubara, daily coal production has doubled and the Kolubara miners are in position to fulfill daily plans of production and supply of TPP NT in the summer period. However, due to problems in the railway of the Railroad Transport of TPPNT, for coal delivery to Obrenovac, during last week 50,000 tons of coal were transported to thermal power plants, less than planned. The works on recovery of railway of the Railroad Transport of TPPNT are in progress and that is why lignite transport from MB Kolubara is made difficult. 14 th June, 2014

6 Slovenian Prime Minister visited Kolubara mines Prime Minister of the Government of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, who is spending two days visiting our country, accompanied by Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antić and the director of MB Kolubara visited the open pit mine Tamnava West Field so that she could see on site the damage which the floods in May made to the biggest Serbian coal producer. Slovenia will, together with France and the European Commission, preside over the international donor conference for raising funds for helping Serbia and we will do everything we can to explain the European Union member states the scope of the consequences of the terrible weather which hit the region. I was assured that we will have the concrete damage estimates as soon as in the middle of the next month which we will show to the relevant international institutions which, we hope, will show the solidarity and help people in flooded areas to get back to normal life Prime Minister Bratušek said. Minister Antić thanked the neighbours for being there for us, especially when the situation was very serious and primarily during our attempt to save TPPNT. We are doing all we can to fully stabilize the energy system and to pump the water out from the mines as soon as possible. When it comes to Tamnava West Field, the pumping design is currently being drawn which, of course, takes into consideration the safety and environmental protection, and we hope that by the end of June or beginning of July we will be able to start this complex work Antić announced. Milorad Grčić, the director of Kolubara thanked the Prime Minister Brаtušеk for the visit and support and he pointed out that she convinced him that the help for the people struck by the floods will continue to arrive from all the countries in the region. The production in Kolubara is currently at the steady fifty percent level and all of us together put in great efforts to improve the situation as soon as possible. Domestic pumps which are installed now pump out some four cubic meters of water per second, and we hope that soon we will get from abroad the help in equipment which would double the quantity of water. We hope that by September we will be able to activate the mine Veliki Crljeni, which would raise the production to the level of 70 percent of the regular one, before the flood Grčić said. The director pointed out that thanks to Kolubara coal, 52 to 54 percent of electricity is produced in Serbia, which says enough about how important it is to solve the problem of pumping the water out of Tamnava mines, so that the production can start. The priority of all activities of EPS and MB Kolubara is the beginning of pumping the water out the OPM Tamnava West Field, where there are 210 million cubic meters of water, and the depth of water at some places reaches 60 m. 18 th June, 2014

7 The overhaul of the equipment which was not flooded began in Tamnava At the open pit mine Tamnava West Field, the investment overhaul started for BWE Glodar 2000 and Spreader 1, and production equipment of the First ECS (excavator conveyor spreader) system which was not flooded since it is located at the highest level of the mine. Along with the overhaul activities at the excavators, the activities on reconstruction of the production line are being performed. The professional services of the branch Metal are in charge of the overhaul activities at the excavators and spreaders, just like it has been the case until now. It was planned that in that period, the workers of Tamnava West Field finish the route and enable the belt conveyors and stations, which would prepare the two production systems for the excavation of overburden in mine Tamnava West Field for work. From their putting in operation to the floods which happened in May, the systems for overburden production in this Tamnava mine were the most productive of all Kolubara open pit mines, and they are famous for their production records which were reached in the previous period. In the open pit mine Tamnava West Field, the most productive mine of Tamnava West Field, during the last year, 14.6 million tons of coal were produced, which is a half of entire quantity of coal produced in Kolubara mines. Based on coal produced in MB Kolubara, the thermal capacities produce half of electricity, which makes this production chain the backbone of power stability of the country. 19 th June, 2014

8 Pumping the water out of Tamnava a priority Tamnava Open Pit Mines, especially the mine Tamnava West Field has been the main support of the coal production in the Mining Basin Kolubara for the last few years. In the previous year, in Tamnava Open Pit Mines, over 19 million tons of coal were excavated, which amounted to two-thirds of the last year s total production. During the flood wave, when the river Kolubara broke the embankments and swept into Tamnava Open Pit Mines, two lakes were created from the most productive mines. In the exploitation field of OPM Veliki Crljeni there are 26 million cubic meters of water, while in the area of West Field there are about 210 million cubic meters of water. After Tamnava OPMs have been submerged, mines in the eastern part of the mining basin, which were partially submerged took over the production. First, the production of coal started in the Field D, which increased the production level by almost a double. Conditions for the daily excavation of coal of 45,000 tons of lignite in MB Kolubara were created. Since the beginning of pumping the water out of the OPM Veliki Crljeni until now, the level of water has lowered by about 130 centimeters. Currently, 23 pumps are included in the process of pumping the water out of this OMP. In the previous period, with an increase of pump number, the intensity of water pumping out is increased as well. During the last two days, heavy precipitation caused a slowdown in the water level drop, so the level is lower by 9 centimeters. During the dry period, it is possible to reduce the water level by 14 centimeters with the pumps of this capacity. Procurement of more high-capacity pumps is a priority in order to pump the water out of this OPM and OPM Tamnava West Field as soon as possible, because re-establishment of the production process in these mines means the security of the power system of the state and continuous power supply for the consumers. 22 nd June, 2014

9 Tender for water pumping out no later than next week The Government of the Republic of Serbia will announce the tender in the next ten days for pumping the water out of Tamnava mines by summary proceedings said the director of Kolubara Milorad Grčić today during a visit of the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Serbia to Tamnava Open Pit Mines and Ivana Hlavsova and Životije Jovanović, Deputy Acting Director of EPS. Procedure is almost completed and we hope that, together with EPS, within a short period, we will manage to complete the process and start the implementation of the recovery plan that has been made. The water level in the OPM Veliki Crljeni has been reduced for about 2 meters and we expect that some parts of the flooded OPMs will be put into operation even before winter. I thank the Ambassador for the help that her country has sent, and I want to express hope that the Czech miners, who are big experts in the field of coal mining, will help us to overcome the problems which we have been facing said Mr. Grčić, pointing out that representatives of Kolubara has already collaborated with Czech companies. The Czech Ambassador, Mrs. Hlavsova, whose country sent ten pumps to Kolubara a few days ago and whose equipment and personnel were engaged during the rescue situation in Kostolac and Obrenovac, pointed out that the Czech Republic was in a similar situation, having in mind the fact that in 2002 they were also affected by catastrophic floods in their OMPs. The Embassy has raised more than $ 300,000 so far. Except for the state, regions, NGOs, and many companies that work with Serbian companies are included. Currently, we are looking for the projects through which we could help the Serbian electric power industry to stabilize the situation she added and expressed her desire to continue with providing further assistance. Deputy Acting Director of EPS, Životije Jovanović said that, despite a difficult situation and major damage that affected the power system, during the next season, power cuts in the electricity supply were not expected. 24 th June, 2014

10 Japanese ambassador offered help to Kolubara High officials of Japanese delegation, headed by the Ambassador, Mr. Masafumi Kuroki, accompanied by the representatives of the Ministry of Mining and Energy and Mr. Milorad Grčić, the director of MB Kolubara, have visited the flooded Tamnava Open Pit Mines today. Officials of Japan, shortly after the floods in May, have expressed their wish to learn more about the damage Kolubara s OPMs have suffered. After explaining the situation on site, director Grčić also presented specific technical information about pumps necessary for pumping the water out of the exploitation fields Tamnava West and Veliki Crljeni. As it was highlighted during the visit, the Ministry of Mining and Energy has formed a Working Group whose members are working intensively on damage assessment these days, planning long-term strategy of recovery and meeting with the representatives of the countries offering help to Serbia. 25 th June, 2014

11 Public Relations Office: Radoš Lazarević, tel ,