Troyanovo 3 Coal Mine

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Troyanovo 3 Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Lyubenovo, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Troyanovo 3 Coal Mine	Lyubenovo, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria	42.1677447033822, 26.0376106304129 (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	–	1967	–

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
–	10	2022	Surface	–	36	70	#REF!*

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
336	–	–	MaritsaIztok Basin	Lignite	Thermal	Maritsa Itzok-3 power station

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD	Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD	Bulgaria

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

Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that the value is an estimated figure based on various factors, including the company's forecasted or reported monthly or quarterly production data, etc.

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Saleable	–	–	–	–	–	10*	7.47*

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

Troyanovo 3 Coal Mine (рудник Трояново 3) is a SURFACE mine located near Lyubenovo, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria.

The mine is part of the Maritsa Coal Mines which includes 3 mines (Troyanovo 3, Troyanovo 1 Coal Mine and Troyanovo-North Coal Mine). Maritsa Coal Mines account for about 96% of Bulgaria's coal production. The mines are part of the Maritsa Iztok Complex and provide coal to the Maritsa Iztok-1 Power Station, Maritsa Iztok-2 Power Station, Maritsa Iztok-3 Power Station and Brikel power station. Most of the information and updates available are jointly for the three mines. Please refer to Maritsa Coal Mines for more background information.

Troyanovo 3 Coal Mine

Troyanovo-3 mine is located in the southern part of the Maritsa Iztok coalfield. It has a rectangular shape and is oriented in the west-east direction. It is 12 kilometres long and 2.5-3 kilometres wide (north-south).

The average depth of the earth mass above the coal face mining complex is 70-80 metres. Unlike the first two mines, Troyanovo-3 mine was designed by a team of Minproekt, the Bulgarian Design Institute, and it was planned that the mine would use only rubber belt conveyors instead of railway transportation.

In 2016 a reloading facility to transfer the coal flows from Troyanovo-3 mine to Troyanovo-1 mine 1 was built. Reliable and regular coal supplies to Maritsa East 2 TPP were provided.

In 9 months 2022, production from the mine reached 7.3 million tonnes. Total 2022 production of the Maritsa Coal Mines reached 34.2 Mt, up from 27Mt in 2021. With no individual break-down per mine, based on 9m 2022 data, it is estimated that Troyanovo 3 coal mine contributed 10 million tonnes. However production slumped in 2023 and the company reported 9m 2023 production at 5.3Mt in the 9-month period of 2023. Lower overall electricity demand, lower electricity exports and the up-take of renewables in the country contributed to this. The participation of (coal-fired) base plants in the country's energy balance decreased by 26.53% over January-August 2023.

Most of the coal produced was supplied to Maritsa Itzok-3 power station.

As of July 2024, coal production of Mini Maritsa was said to be 50% down compared with 2023 levels.

Bulgaria will receive €1.2 billion from the Just Transition Fund following the adoption of Bulgaria's Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) by the European Commission today in late 2023. The JTF will help deliver new jobs and economic activities for a just transition in the Bulgarian regions of Stara Zagora, Kyustendil and Pernik that face the biggest socio-economic challenges in phasing out coal and reducing CO2 emissions. It also targets to support Bulgaria to reach the EU 2030 climate and energy targets, and a climate-neutral economy by 2050. In late 2024, the European Commission, joined the panel "Financing the Transition: Options and Challenges" to emphasize the unprecedented level of EU funding available: “Bulgaria can benefit from funds under the Resilience and Recovery Plan, the Just Transition Fund, the Public Sector Laon Facility, the Invest EU JTF dedicated scheme – to name a few. However, the funding available is timebound and has specific rules to be applied and therefore, needs to be accessed as soon as possible.

Solar Plans

As of early 2025, there were plans to build two solar plants near the near the Troyanovo - North and Troyanovo - 3 mines, with a total production capacity of 150 megawatts, in addition to energy storage facilities with a 60 MW capacity. The project was announced in July 2024, but as of early 2025 was at the "working project" stage and the search for suitable schemes for its financing.

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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.