Czech miner Sokolovská uhelná's coal output fell to 2.2 million tonnes last year, decline continues

Sokolovská uhelná (SUAS) mined approximately 2.2 million tonnes of lignite and 4.6 million cubic metres of overburden last year. Output fell compared with 2023, and the decline will continue this year. In 2023, the company mined 3.4 million tonnes of coal and 7.5 million cubic metres of overburden. The Sokolovská uhelná and SUAS GROUP companies generated about 1057 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity last year. SUAS Teplárenská, a member of the SUAS GROUP, supplied contracted customers with approximately 1900 Terajoules (TJ) of heat generated at the Tisová Power Plant and the Vřesová complex. The company said in a press release today.

As recently as 2019, Sokolovská uhelná mined nearly six million tonnes of coal a year—about 2.7 times more than last year. In 2023, the Vřesová complex and the Tisová Power Plant (ETI) generated 1750 GWh of electricity, while the two facilities supplied customers in the Karlovy Vary Region with more than 2200 TJ of heat. Electricity and heat output therefore both fell year on year.

The company sold 45 percent of the coal it mined to external customers and used the rest for its own energy and heat production. “One of the two TC2 technological units was taken offline. We reassigned some employees to other operations or supported them as they left the company,” said board member Martin Čermák.

In the coming period, the company will seek ways to balance the challenging situation financially. “The decline in mining cannot be prevented, and it is unrealistic to return to the previous level of output and the way the company operated in the past. We must adapt to the situation and use the time we still have to stabilise the business and pursue a rational approach to costs,” said Jiří Pöpperl, chairman of the board of Sokolovská uhelná.

The SUAS GROUP will continue to take on and build its key role in developing the group. “Our goal for the coming period remains to maximise external revenues, make efficient use of the equipment available to our subsidiaries, and develop projects in the pipeline. We see this as an opportunity for a successful transformation of the entire group,” said David Najvar, chairman of the board of SUAS GROUP.