Pesteana Coal Mine

This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Pesteana Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Motru, Rovinari, Oltenia, Romania.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Pesteana Coal Mine	Motru, Rovinari, Oltenia, Romania	44.840972, 23.274306 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1980	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	1.6	–	Surface	Open Pit	18	50*	738

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
–	–	–	Oltenia	Lignite	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Complexul Energetic Oltenia SA	Ministry of Energy (Romania) [77.2%]; Fondul Proprietatea SA [21.6%]; other unknown/mixed entity types [1.3%]	Romania

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September and December supplements.

Background

The Oltenia Energy Complex is a network of coal mines and power plants, operated by Complexul Energetic Oltenia S.A., in Gorj, Vâlce, and Mehedinţi, Romania.

Between 2017 and 2021, Oltenia Energy Complex had an average annual production of approximately 18.5 million tonnes of lignite from the ten mines it operates. In 2022, production of the complex reached 18.2 million tonnes.

The company operates ten pits. The complex has closed several other pits over the years. The Oltenia Energy Complex was established in 2012 by merging Societatea Naţionala a Lignitului Oltenia with Energy Complexes Turceni, Rovinari and Craiova. The company has its material base in Gorj, Vâlcea and Mehedinţi counties with total reserves of 2 billion tonnes of coal.

A Restructuring Plan for the Oltenia Energy Complex was approved by the European Commission in January 2022 which anticipated the phased closure of Husnicioara, Peșteana and Lupoaia quarries and the transition to conservation of Tismana and Jilt Sud from 2026.

More information is available under Oltenia Energy Complex

Pesteana

The mine was planned for closure, according to government announcements in 2022, together with Husnicioara and Lupoaia. Euracoal report from January 2024 did not specifically mention this coal mine but referred to Roşia-Peșteana coal mine planned for closure by the end of 2030. (the surface mines are located 10km away from each other).

Additional media sources from September 2021 stated that the last works at Pesteana were scheduled by the end of 2021 and the mine was planned for closure in January 2022. Pesteana Sud was closed earlier in 2015 and on its site a huge lake was formed. However, media sources from late 2023 suggest that the mine was still operational.

It appeared that the mine stopped extracting coal in late 2024. As of December 2024, the mine entered the process of closing, according to the restructuring plan of CE Oltenia. Coal is no longer extracted from the mining unit, but work is being done to extract the equipment, in view of the final closure. It was not known what will happen to the staff, when the closure works will be completed, but, most likely, they will be moved to the Rosia Coal Mine. Closure works are scheduled between 2024 and 2032 with a plan to conduct re-cultivation works. There were 104 employees left that were expected to stay at the mine for the closure works.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.