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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Colorado coal miners are "cautiously optimistic," the head of the Colorado Mining Association (CMA) said on the sidelines of the group's 120th National Western Mining Conference & Exhibition last week. "I think we've turned a corner. We have a more favorable environment for coal today," CMA President Stan Dempsey, Jr. told Industrial Info. "The war on coal is over--at least at the federal level. Of course, Colorado declared a war on coal before the Obama administration did," when it adopted the Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act in 2010, which forced an estimated 1,100 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired generation to convert to natural gas.
Still, Dempsey predicted Colorado coal production will rise about five million tons this year, to an annualized level of about 17 million tons. In recent years, the state's coal production has dropped off as coal-fired units closed or were converted to natural gas.
In September 2016, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Westminster, Colorado) announced it would idle the Nucla Power Station, a 100-MW coal-fired plant, by 2022. It also announced plans to retire its New Horizon mine, which supplies the Nucla plant.
Tri-State also is the operator and partial owner of the 427-MW Craig Unit 1, which it agreed to close by year-end 2025. Units 2 and 3 of the Craig station were unaffected by Tri-State's September 2016 decision on Unit 1. For more on the closure of Nucla and Craig Unit 1, see the October 26, 2016, article - Two Colorado Coal-fired Generating Units May be Retired Prematurely.
Chris McCourt, a mine manager at the Colowyo Coal Company L.P. (Meeker, Colorado), was among speakers at the CMA event. McCourt discussed an expansion of his company's Colowyo coal mine, which provides coal to the Craig, Colorado, power plant. The Colowyo/Collom expansion, which will extend the life of that mine by an estimated 35 years, achieved a number of milestones in 2017, and he predicted coal will start to be mined next January.
"We're still working through some Sage Grouse issues (at the expansion), and we expect to receive our final permit in the next few months," he said. Industrial Info has been tracking the expansion project, which has an estimated total investment value (TIV) of about $200 million.
Stephen Hinkemeyer, engineering and business development manager for Trapper Mining Incorporated (Craig) told about 300 conference attendees that his company expects to boost production by about 500,000 tons this year, versus 2017, when unscheduled outages at the Craig plant, plus low-cost natural gas, cut into production volumes. This year, Hinkemeyer predicts production will average about 2.2 million tons, and in 2019 and 2020 volumes, are expected to inch up to around 2.3 million tons.
Each of Craig's three units burns roughly 1.6 million tons of coal per year when operating at full capacity, Hinkemeyer told Industrial Info. "We're kind of on pins and needles" over extending the current coal-supply contract to Craig, because Unit 1 will shut down in 2025," he said. "Trapper's current contract runs through 2020 and they're trying to negotiate an extension until the date the plant closes.
Like other coal-mining companies at the CMA event, Trapper is investing in new heavy equipment, as well as process and vehicle-fleet optimization to lower costs and increase production, Hinkemeyer said.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle TM, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com
Still, Dempsey predicted Colorado coal production will rise about five million tons this year, to an annualized level of about 17 million tons. In recent years, the state's coal production has dropped off as coal-fired units closed or were converted to natural gas.
In September 2016, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Westminster, Colorado) announced it would idle the Nucla Power Station, a 100-MW coal-fired plant, by 2022. It also announced plans to retire its New Horizon mine, which supplies the Nucla plant.
Tri-State also is the operator and partial owner of the 427-MW Craig Unit 1, which it agreed to close by year-end 2025. Units 2 and 3 of the Craig station were unaffected by Tri-State's September 2016 decision on Unit 1. For more on the closure of Nucla and Craig Unit 1, see the October 26, 2016, article - Two Colorado Coal-fired Generating Units May be Retired Prematurely.
Chris McCourt, a mine manager at the Colowyo Coal Company L.P. (Meeker, Colorado), was among speakers at the CMA event. McCourt discussed an expansion of his company's Colowyo coal mine, which provides coal to the Craig, Colorado, power plant. The Colowyo/Collom expansion, which will extend the life of that mine by an estimated 35 years, achieved a number of milestones in 2017, and he predicted coal will start to be mined next January.
"We're still working through some Sage Grouse issues (at the expansion), and we expect to receive our final permit in the next few months," he said. Industrial Info has been tracking the expansion project, which has an estimated total investment value (TIV) of about $200 million.
Stephen Hinkemeyer, engineering and business development manager for Trapper Mining Incorporated (Craig) told about 300 conference attendees that his company expects to boost production by about 500,000 tons this year, versus 2017, when unscheduled outages at the Craig plant, plus low-cost natural gas, cut into production volumes. This year, Hinkemeyer predicts production will average about 2.2 million tons, and in 2019 and 2020 volumes, are expected to inch up to around 2.3 million tons.
Each of Craig's three units burns roughly 1.6 million tons of coal per year when operating at full capacity, Hinkemeyer told Industrial Info. "We're kind of on pins and needles" over extending the current coal-supply contract to Craig, because Unit 1 will shut down in 2025," he said. "Trapper's current contract runs through 2020 and they're trying to negotiate an extension until the date the plant closes.
Like other coal-mining companies at the CMA event, Trapper is investing in new heavy equipment, as well as process and vehicle-fleet optimization to lower costs and increase production, Hinkemeyer said.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle TM, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com
