Category:

In Appalachia, Coal Struggles to Compete With Natural Gas

Coal has regained a little ground this year as the fuel of choice for U.S. power plants—except in Appalachia, where natural gas for electricity generation has become extremely cheap. So much gas is being pumped from the Marcellus Shale, and so few pipelines serve the area, that a glut has developed in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, driving down the price of electricity and making it hard for coal to compete. Several companies have told regulators they want to close coal plants, and one owned by a private-equity firm has filed for bankruptcy protection. Sunbury Generation LLC plans to close its 60-year-old coal plant in Shimokin Dam, Pa., north of Harrisburg, because the price for electricity it sells on the open market is just too low to cover its costs. “It is difficult to run merchant coal plants in Pennsylvania,” said Dave Meehan, the company’s president. “Even though we’re old, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China to Curb Disorderly Growth of Coal Industry

China plans to accelerate reform of its coal industry, shutting smaller mines to consolidate domestic production and experimenting with tariff levels to encourage higher-quality imports, the State Council said in a draft proposal published Thursday on the central government’s website. Citing falling coal prices and industry losses, China’s equivalent to a cabinet said it aimed to “curb the disorderly growth of coal production.” It said it would stop construction of new coal mines with less than 300,000 metric tons of annual output and gradually eliminate coal mines producing 90,000 tons or less a year. It would continue to shut unsafe coal mines and investigate mines that were illegally built or illegally exceeded approved dimensions. The government will also increase the punishment for those caught flouting the rules, though it said precise punishments would only be announced at a later date. It would also explore differentiating coal […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Coal’s Decline Hits Hardest in the Mines of Kentucky

Since he was laid off from his mining job in January, William Hensley’s life has been upended. Days after he lost his position, Mr. Hensley, 50 years old, said he was diagnosed with black lung disease. The bank soon took back his 2012 Chevy Suburban, after he was unable to make the $600 monthly payments. He can no longer afford health insurance and has drawn down all but $5,000 he had in a 401(k) retirement plan to pay for another vehicle and living expenses. Mr. Hensley, who is raising his 12-year-old granddaughter with his wife, went from making $82,000 a year as an underground foreman to collecting about $15,000 in unemployment benefits this year. But that aid is set to run out in December and mining jobs are scarce. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Mr. Hensley, who has spent 32 years of his life […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Coal's Decline Hits Hardest in the Mines of Kentucky

Since he was laid off from his mining job in January, William Hensley’s life has been upended. Days after he lost his position, Mr. Hensley, 50 years old, said he was diagnosed with black lung disease. The bank soon took back his 2012 Chevy Suburban, after he was unable to make the $600 monthly payments. He can no longer afford health insurance and has drawn down all but $5,000 he had in a 401(k) retirement plan to pay for another vehicle and living expenses. Mr. Hensley, who is raising his 12-year-old granddaughter with his wife, went from making $82,000 a year as an underground foreman to collecting about $15,000 in unemployment benefits this year. But that aid is set to run out in December and mining jobs are scarce. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Mr. Hensley, who has spent 32 years of his life […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China Shenhua Energy’s October coal output up 14.2% year-on-year

Huaihua, Hunan (Platts)–18Nov2013/534 pm EST/2234 GMT China Shenhua Energy Co., the listed subsidiary of Shenhua Group, said at the weekend it mined 27.3 million mt of commercially-ready coal in October, up 14.2% year-on-year. The company sold 46.7 million mt in October, up 14.7% year on year. China Shenhua Energy exported 300,000 mt of coal in October, up from 100,000 mt a year earlier. Over January-October, Shenhua Energy exported 2.2 million mt of coal, down 24.1% year-on-year. The company imported 2.5 million mt of coal in October, up from 0.8 million mt a year earlier. Over January-October, Shenhua Energy imported 9.9 million mt of coal, up 52.3% year-on-year. It did not give a breakdown between thermal coal and coking coal. It has a coking coal mining capacity of around 20 million mt/year, mainly from Shenhua Group subsidiaries Shenhua Wuhai Energy in Inner Mongolia and Shenhua Ningxia Coal Mining Group in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China Shenhua Energy's October coal output up 14.2% year-on-year

Huaihua, Hunan (Platts)–18Nov2013/534 pm EST/2234 GMT China Shenhua Energy Co., the listed subsidiary of Shenhua Group, said at the weekend it mined 27.3 million mt of commercially-ready coal in October, up 14.2% year-on-year. The company sold 46.7 million mt in October, up 14.7% year on year. China Shenhua Energy exported 300,000 mt of coal in October, up from 100,000 mt a year earlier. Over January-October, Shenhua Energy exported 2.2 million mt of coal, down 24.1% year-on-year. The company imported 2.5 million mt of coal in October, up from 0.8 million mt a year earlier. Over January-October, Shenhua Energy imported 9.9 million mt of coal, up 52.3% year-on-year. It did not give a breakdown between thermal coal and coking coal. It has a coking coal mining capacity of around 20 million mt/year, mainly from Shenhua Group subsidiaries Shenhua Wuhai Energy in Inner Mongolia and Shenhua Ningxia Coal Mining Group in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

UN climate chief calls on coal industry to change

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The U.N.’s chief climate diplomat has urged the coal industry to diversify to cleaner energy sources and leave most of the world’s remaining coal reserves in the ground. On the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference, Christiana Figueres told CEOs of coal companies meeting Monday at Poland’s Economy Ministry that their industry needs to change radically to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases that scientists say are warming the planet. The coal event is seen as a provocation by climate activists, who climbed the roof of the Economy Ministry and unfurled a banner that read, “Who rules the world? Fossil industries or the people?” Poland generates about 90 percent of its electricity from coal and Economy Minister Janusz Piechocinski said coal must be a part of talks on reducing CO2 emissions. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Sierra Club official lauds Kentucky for phasing out coal-fired units

WEST PADUCAH, Ky., Nov. 15 (UPI) — Alice Howell, a regional director for the Sierra Club, lauded the planned closing of two coal-fired units at a power plant in western Kentucky. “Kentucky is proving that it can move beyond coal,” she said in a statement Thursday. The Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally owned utility and economic development corporation, is retiring the units at the 50-year-old Paradise power-generating facility, the Sierra Club said. The advocacy group said the plant has 13.6 million tons of emissions every year. The TVA will compensate for the loss of power with a 1,000-megawatt natural gas plant, the Sierra Club said. The New York Times reported Thursday the closings are part of the TVA’s strategy to use less coal as a power source. The closings extend to coal-fired plants in Alabama. The TVA offered no deadline for when the plants’ coal units would shut down. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

In Blow to Coal, TVA to Shut 8 Units

The Tennessee Valley Authority will retire eight coal-burning generating stations at three locations in Alabama and Kentucky, a decision that deals another blow to the coal industry, which is shrinking under more stringent environmental regulations and struggling to adjust to changing fuel prices. The TVA’s power-generation overhaul is intended to save the utility money and sharply reduce its coal use. Across the U.S., utilities are shuttering coal-fired power plants, but the trend is hitting the mining industry hardest in the Central Appalachian states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. Coal is costlier there than in other parts of the U.S., and it’s becoming more labor-intensive to extract because mining companies are being forced to tap coal seams deeper in the earth. Forty years ago, the TVA got more than 80% of its power from coal. Today coal accounts for 38%, a number that is dropping fast as a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China’s smog threatens health of global coal projects

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A choking smog across much of northern China threatens not just the health of local residents, but also of major coal projects globally that are still on the drawing board. Beijing’s plans to tackle pollution largely target coal-fired power, which will hit already slowing demand in the world’s top importer of the fuel. With China’s coal demand the primary driver for a slew of mine investments over the past decade, this trend could derail a list of capital intensive coal projects from Australia to Indonesia and Mozambique. Even without the environmental drive, new railways from mines to ports, falling investment in coal-fired generation and slowing power demand growth could see China’s miners export some of their surplus output at competitive prices, hitting regional miners and the viability of new projects. This is a major shift for a country that built an average of two coal-fired power […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple