Turów Coal Mine

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Turów coal mine
Turow.jpg
Location
Turów coal mine is located in Poland
Turów coal mine
Turów coal mine
LocationBogatynia
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
CountryPoland
Production
ProductsCoal, Aggregates, Clay
Production27,700,000
History
Opened1904
Owner
CompanyPolska Grupa Energetyczna

The Turów coal mine (Polish: Kopalnia Węgla Brunatnego Turów S.A.) or KWB Turów, is a large open pit mine in the southwest of Poland, located outside Bogatynia, Lower Silesia.

Situated 55 km west of Jelenia Góra, 80 km east of Dresden, Germany, and 20 km northwest of Liberec, Czech Republic, the Turów mine forms a part of an area widely known as the "Black Triangle" due to its past heavy industrial pollution, covering portions of eastern Germany, southwestern Poland and northern Czech Republic.[1] The Turów mine, operated by Polska Grupa Energetyczna, represents one of the largest lignite reserves in Poland, with an estimated reserve of 760 million tonnes of coal.[2] The annual coal production of Turów is around 27.7 million tonnes.

Lignite was found near Turasów in 1740. Between 1836 and 1869, almost 70 shafts were excavated. The owners of these mines organized the joint stock company Hercules in 1904, and three years later began strip mining. In 1925 the cap rock was dumped north to the mine. After the Second World War, in 1947, a Polish organization took the mine over from the Soviet military administration and KWB Turów came into existence. In 2005 its lignite resources were 429.7 x 106 t[clarification needed].

The mine's license was set to expire in April 2020, but in March 2020, the Polish government extended it by another six years. The Polish government agreed to PGE Group's wish to continue mining at the site until 2044. PGE Group's move to expand the mine is facing opposition from the Czech government, as nearby Czech and German communities say that the environmental impact from the mine is severely affecting their quality of life.[3][4] In February 2021, the Czech Republic sued Poland over the mine at the European Court of Justice, the first time that an EU member state had sued another one over an environmental issue.[5] In May 2021, Poland defied an injunction by the court that ordered the immediate closure of the mine, as it would have an adverse impact the nation’s energy system and lead to the loss of thousands of jobs.[6]

Gallery[]

  • Coal mine and Turów power station

  • Mine from the south in 2019

  • Coal mining (2012)

  • Mining structures by the road on the south

  • Campaign ad against the closure of the Turów lignite mine in front of the European Commission headquarters, May 2021

References[]

  1. ^ "Turów Rehabilitation Project. The World's Largest CFB Repowering Project" (PDF). Foster Wheeler. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  2. ^ "References 1950-2006" (PDF). Poltegor Engineering. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  3. ^ "Poland prolongs Turow mine life despite international outcry". www.euractiv.com. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Czech Republic To Appeal To European Commission Over Polish Lignite Mining Complex". Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  5. ^ Taylor, Kira (6 May 2021). "Turow: the Polish coal mine at the centre of regional tensions". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  6. ^ France-Presse, Agence (2021-05-25). "Poland defies EU court by refusing to close major brown coalmine". the Guardian. Retrieved 2021-05-26.

External links[]

[1]

Coordinates: 50°54′45″N 14°54′11″E / 50.91250°N 14.90306°E / 50.91250; 14.90306


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  1. ^ Acidic Pit Lakes: The Legacy of Coal and Metal Surface Mines;
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