In the first half of 2024, the Polish Mining Group (PGG) will launch a new installation for the production of so-called eco-pea coal at the Ziemowit mine in Lędziny. The plant, with an annual capacity of half a million tonnes, will also be able to create energy mixes tailored to the needs of customers.

The Ziemowit mine is part of the larger Piast-Ziemowit combined mine. The new plant will produce eco-pea coal under the name ‘Karlik 26+’. Currently, popular ‘Karlik’ is produced from Piast-Ziemowit coal at the PGG-owned plant in Wola near Pszczyna. The opening of the plant in Lędziny will mean that coal will no longer need to be transported to Wola.

The investment should be commissioned in the first half of 2024. Annual production of Karlik 26+ will amount to 500,000 tonnes per year. The new plant will also offer the possibility of creating power middlings of several hundred thousand tonnes per year. This will be of great importance for thermal power plants, which are fuelled with such fuel.

“The main benefits of the project are the possibility of adjusting production to potential restrictions resulting from legislative changes and market needs, as well as increasing the fluency of coal reception”, says chief engineer, head of the Investment and Production Preparation Department at the Piast-Ziemowit mine, Sławomir Brusik.

The project involves the use of the mine’s decommissioned infrastructure and the acquisition of new machinery and equipment. Coal drying and packing halls, storage yards and an unloading area will be built. A special point for loading coal from wagons together with a system for creating energy mixes will be built as the first stage. The next step will be the construction of an eco-pea production facility, followed by the construction of a coal packing facility.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński