Ukraine boasts record high coal reserves since 2015

Coal reserves at the warehouses of Ukrainian thermal power plants amount to 2.497 million tonnes, which is 35% more than last year, setting a record high since 2015, Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection Oleksiy Orzhel states.

"This year, not only do we have record-high gas reserves in storage, it's also record-high coal reserves (since 2015). Today we have reached the reserve level of 2.496,800 tonnes of coal, which is 35% more than last year. This is a sign that we will pass this winter without any problems," the minister wrote on Facebook.

He noted that this amount is enough to cover roughly a month of operations of coal-fed TPPs. During this period, new supply contracts could be secured, if required.

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UNIAN memo. Since the outbreak of hostilities in Donbas, Ukraine has been experiencing a significant shortage of coal, primarily energy grade (anthracite), whose production is concentrated in Donetsk and Luhansk regions in areas controlled by Russian occupation forces.

Energy companies began to transfer anthracite-fed units of thermal power plants to gas-grade coal, which led to an increase in the consumption of "G" fuel.

The existing output is failing to fully cover the demand so a shortage of this coal grade has also arisen.

To address the issue, Ukrainian energy companies sealed a number of coal import contracts.