Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

The Czech Republic possesses sizeable coal resources, with a proved amount in place of nearly 9 billion tonnes, of which just over half is reported to be economically recoverable. In terms of rank, 37% of the proved reserves are classified as bituminous, 58% as sub-bituminous and 5% as lignite. The tonnages reported by the Czech WEC Member Committee for the present Survey show fairly considerable changes from those advised for the 2004 Survey in 2003: a 19-20% decline in proved reserves of both bituminous and sub-bituminous, and an overall 9% fall in the proved amount of coal in place, with bituminous dropping 18% and sub-bituminous increasing by 19%. The maximum depth of deposits varies from 1 600 m in the case of bituminous to 500 m for sub-bituminous and only 130 m for lignite; minimum seam thicknesses range from 0.6 (for bituminous) to 1.5 (lignite) and 2.0 m for sub-bituminous.

Bituminous coal deposits are mainly in the Ostrava-Karviná basin in the east of the country, and lie within the Czech section of the Upper Silesian coalfield. The principal sub-bituminous/lignite basins are located in the regions of North and West Bohemia, close to the Krusne Hory (Erzgebirge or Ore Mountains), which constitute the republic's north-western border with Germany. Currently all Czech output of bituminous coal and lignite is deep-mined.

Since 1990, Czech output of bituminous coal has fallen by 41%, to 13.3 million tonnes in 2005, whilst sub-bituminous/lignite has declined by 39%, from 80 million tonnes in 1990 to 48.8 million tonnes in 2005. Over half of the republic's bituminous coal production consists of coking coal. In 2004, total exports of coal amounted to 6.7 million tonnes, equivalent to nearly 11% of production.

Apart from its coking coal, which is consumed by the iron and steel industry, most of the republic's bituminous coal is used for electricity and heat generation, with industrial and private consumers accounting for relatively modest proportions. This pattern of utilisation also applies to sub-bituminous coal, which is still the main power station fuel.