2017. Trends and Prospects of Coal Productionand Usage in Ukraine and Globally

Events14 June 2017

International coal conference

final programme and available materials

Session 1 Trends and Prospects of Coal Production and Usage in Ukraine and Globally

Global trends of coal production and consumption— Winds of change Brian Riketts, Secretary General, European Association for Coal and Lignite (EURACOAL)
Reforming Ukraine's coal industry — Anatoliy Korzun, Deputy Minister of Energy and Coal Industry
Development strategy for coal production by DTEK ENERGY mines as the basis for Ukraine's energy security — Mykhailo Barabash, Coal Production Director, DTEK Energy
The situation in the Polish mining industry — Krzysztof Szlaga, President of the Management Board, Lubelski Wegiel “Bogdanka” S.A.
Problems faced by miners' towns: Assessment and ways to address them — Pavlo Zhebrivsky, Chairman, Donetsk Regional Civil-Military Administration
Coal industry in the context of Ukraine's new energy strategy — Volodymyr Omelchenko, Director, Energy Programmes, Razumkov Centre

Session 2 Restructuring Coal Industry: Social Dimension

Coal production in Ukraine: Economic and social aspects — Mykhailo Volynets, Chairman, Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine
Social policy in the context of reforms in the Ukrainian coal industry — Victor Turmanov, Chairman, Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers of Ukraine
EU Coal Regions in Transition— Torsten Woellert, Support Group for Ukraine
UK experience of coal industry restructuring — Creena Lavery, British Embassy in Ukraine
Restructuring Ruhr Area in Germany — Dr. Rolf Petri, Expert in restructuring of the coal industry
Regulatory impact analysis in Ukrainian energy and coal sectors — Andrii Kitura, E&Y, Senior Consultant, Cleantech and Sustainability Services
Energy policy in Germany and the role of coal industry — Carsten Drebenstedt, Freiberg Mining Academy (Germany)
Abandonment (closure) of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry mines: Status and challenges — Maksim Fedotov, General Director, State Enterprise «United Company «Ukruglerestrukturizatsia»
Economic networks of coal producers and consumers as a promising option for the industry development — Oleksandr Amosha, Academician, Institute of Industrial Economics, National Ac. Sci. of Ukraine
State-of-the-art scientific developments in deep coal processing technology in Germany — Felix Baytalov, Freiberg Mining Academy (Germany)
International support in restructuring coal industry. Lessons learnt from Stage I (1996-2000) and future challenges — Dmytro Tolmachov, Head of the Project Coordination Unit, Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry / World Bank

Session 3 Practical Issues of Coal Mining. Future of Thermal Generation

Thermal generation: Challenges and opportunities — Dmytro Maliar, Deputy Commercial Director, DTEK Energy
State-run mines: Developmental challenges — Volodymyr Kolomiyets, Director, Pivdennodonbaska Mine No.1
Second life of a coal mine based on the synchro-mining technology — Professor Oleksandr Shashenko, Dr. Sci. Eng., Prorector, National Mining University
Ukraine's obligations as a member of the Energy Community: How will it impact the future of the coal generation — Olga Buslavets, Director of Electiric Power Industry Department, Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry
Alternative use of coal — Professor Volodymyr Bondarenko, Dr. Sci. Eng.,Department Head, Underground Development Department, National Mining University
Potential of Ukrainian coal mines — Ulrich Ruppel, Director, DMT Consulting GmbH
Current state and perspectives of Polish coal mining sector — Zbigniew Lubosik, Deputy General Director of GIG
Global trends in energy and challenges for thermal energy in Ukraine: Environment and climate change — Iryna Verbitska, Head of Environmental Safety Department, DTEK Energy
Switching TPP generating units from A grade coal to G grade coal: Lessons learnt by Centrenergo — Oleg Kozemko, Acting General Director, Centrenergo
Clean coal technology in Ukraine — Natalya Dunaievska, Institute of Coal Energy Technologies, National Ac. Sci. of Ukraine
Coal Sector Transparency Initiative reports. How transparency could help reform — Olena Pavlenko, President of the analytical center DiXi Group
Ukraine in the context of European trends in the coal generation — Anna Zvolikevych, DTEK's Representative in Brussels

COMMUNIQUÉ

The exploitation of available indigenous energy resources will remain the key component of Ukraine’s energy security policy. During the Conference, high-level experts and conference participants have debated in detail the role of coal and coal generation in Ukraine’s energy mix and highlighted the principal areas to be developed:

industry restructuring, including closure/mothballing of unprofitable state-run mines;
transition to self-supporting mining and re-focusing the governmental aid on ensuring technically- and environmentally-safe operation of companies;
elimination of the state wholesale coal buyer and introduction of coal exchange trade.

Special attention has been paid to the social element of the coal industry restructuring, including its present state, experience of European countries, dialogue with communities, international support, and future development of the sector. The measures aiming to mitigate social ramifications of the coal industry restructuring should be tightly coordinated with the programmes intended to bring social transformation to the areas affected by mine closures/mothballing. Such programmes should involve arranging public efforts to restore infrastructure, creating new jobs, providing consultations and financial support to business initiatives, setting up business incubators, and introducing temporary special economic regimes in the areas hit by mine closures.

Ukraine’s 2035 New Energy Strategy (NES) envisages that the thermal generation will retain its role in balancing the Ukrainian power grid. All the energy sector participants face common challenges: supply of energy resources (indigenous and imported), renovation of generating units, energy efficiency improvement, reduction of pollutant emissions and mitigation of the negative impact upon the environment, and Ukraine’s participation in global initiatives, notably the 2015 Paris Agreement, seeking to prevent and overcome negative consequences of the climate change.

The NES implementation is planned to achieve a more than two-fold decrease in the GDP energy intensity by 2035. This task will require high-technology solutions, substantial investment, updated legislation, and structural changes to the economy. The investment needs to be supported by reforms, easier access to the market, and transparent and streamlined legal and regulatory mechanisms. The state has to minimise its investments, while fostering an incentive investment climate as much as possible.
Globally, coal has enabled a significant improvement in the quality of life and helped ensure access to electricity. Even highly-developed countries, such as Japan and Germany, continue to heavily rely upon thermal power generation. Subject to internal and external support, Ukraine can leverage experience gained in research and development to bring together the advantages of coal usage and benefits from the adoption of new clean technologies in order to carry out the obligations it assumed as a party to the Association Agreement and a member of the Energy Community.

Proper attention to the situation in the coal sector and coal-fired generation will help Ukraine strengthen its role as a responsible European country in building up relations with the European Union in line with the Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Energy Partnership signed in Brussels on 24 November 2016. While recognising a special situation in Ukraine, it would be reasonable to fully embrace all the available cooperation opportunities “to reform and restructure the Ukrainian coal sector, with due regard to environmental and social aspects”.
The Memorandum envisages that the parties will agree on and execute annual plans to implement it. Incorporating the coal industry in the annual plans will ensure transparency towards the inside and outside stakeholders as far as the industry restructuring, problematic issues and ways to tackle them are concerned. This format will be a crucial component to ensuring reliable operation of the Ukrainian power system during peak load periods on the grid.

The Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine will play a key part in coordinating and implementing the industry restructuring policy. Pursuant to the European practices, these efforts need to rely on close cooperation and dialogue with all the relevant parties, including communities and non-governmental organisations. As shown by the experience of the European countries that have already gone through or are in the process of energy transformation, constructive and consistent efforts on the part of the Ministry and the industry will guarantee successful achievement of the NES targets with a minimum negative impact upon the social aspect and the environment.