Timișeni-Pinoasa Coal Mine

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Timișeni-Pinoasa Coal Mine is a proposed coal mine in Gorj county, Oltenia, Romania.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Timișeni-Pinoasa Coal Mine	Gorj county, Oltenia, Romania	44.9624455, 23.0813093 (approximate)

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

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Opening Year	Closing Year
Proposed	Construction	New	–	2026 (planned)

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
8	–	–	Surface	Open Pit	–	50*	*

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
–	–	–	–	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

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

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.

Timiseni-Pinoasa Expansion

The expansion appeared to be related to the expasnion of the Pinoasa Coal Mine. Euracoal report referred to the planned for closure of the Pinoasa coal mine by the end of 2030.

In January 2023, the Romanian government adopted the decision to cut down a 106-hectare forest without compensation to expand the Timiseni-Pinoasa lignite mine, according to Bankwatch report. This would increase output of the mine up to 8 million tonnes per year, which is almost half of the total 2021 production of Oltenia. The decision runs counter the decarbonization process approved by the government earlier. The project has been in the works since 2019, according to another report, and the removal of the 106-hectare forest is the last important step before moving on to mining.

In August 2024, the Ministry of Energy launched in public debate the draft Decision for supplementing the amount of compensation approved by Government Decision no. 1121/2020 regarding the approval of the location and the initiation of expropriation procedures for all privately owned real estate to be able to put in operation the Timișeni - Pinoasa mine with capacity of 8 million tonnes. It therefore appeared that the project was still being planned in mid-2024. Since then, it appeared that there was no further news on the proposed project.

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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.