Methane is released during coal mining and is one of the most serious natural hazard.
Methane greenhouse potential is 28 times greater than carbon dioxide.
Methane drainage and economic use of methane are proftiable investment in safety and ecology.
The JSW Capital Group is the largest producer of high-quality hard coking coal in the European Union, which is on the list of critical raw materials for the EU economy, and one of the leading producers of coke used for smelting steel. The core business of the JSW Group is the production and sale of coking coal as well as the production and sale of coke and coal derivatives.
In 2022, plants belonging to the JSW Capital Group produced 14.1 million tonnes of coal and 3.2 million tonnes of coke. In addition, JSW is at the forefront in developing techniques for capturing and industrial use of "Blue Fuel" – coal mine methane for the production of electricity, heat and cold in cogeneration and trigeneration systems. In 2022, in the mines of JSW S.A. 123 million m3 of methane was captured, of which 90.9 million m3 were used
In 2019, the Management Board of JSW SA established the Methane Drainage and Energy Management Office, thus linking methane drainage to the economic use of methane. In-house structures are currently being developed. Methane drainage units have been set up at every mining facility, employing more than people 200 in total. Operating and servicing methane drainage stations as well as supervising and regulating key pipelines and methane intakes in underground excavations are now performed internally. The main task of these units is to increase the capture of methane in the drainage system and thus enhance the safety of underground crews and reduce methane emissions into atmosphere.
Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa S.A. by 2025, is going to make investments thanks to which the installed capacity at JSW S.A. mines will amount to 60 MWel. The annual production potential of "Green Electricity" in KWK Budryk, KWK Knurów - Szczygłowice and KWK Pniówek in 2025 will amount to approx. 450 thousand MWh. The amount of produced energy will cover approximately 40% of JSW S.A. annual electricity demand. Due to the fact that methane is a gas with greenhouse potential 28 times greater than the carbon dioxide actions taken by JSW S.A. are closely related to climate protection.
The implementation of "Green Investments" in KWK Budryk, KWK "Knurów-Szczygłowice" and KWK “Pniówek” by 2025 - will allow the reduction of methane emissions into the atmosphere by a total of 108 million m3 of CH4, which gives about 2.2 million Mg CO2e per year.
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