August 23, 2019 (07:24)

Economic restructuring of the coal mining regions

An analytical study titled “Photovoltaic Generation: New Opportunities for Coal Mining Regions, that are in the process of curtailing production”, published by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC), identifies the prospects for deploying solar power plants in the EU coal mining regions in the process of decommissioning coal mines and power plants.

According to JRC estimates, the potential for solar power plants development in the EU coal mining regions is around 730 GW with the prospect of generating up to 874 TWh of electricity per year. For comparison, the capacity of coal power plants in the EU today is 152.5 GW. Thus, solar power plants can replace coal generation, provided there is a comprehensive approach to the implementation of relevant projects and the creation of sufficient capacity for electricity storage and demand management.  

One of the most important issues for the coal mining regions is the retention of mining jobs, related servicing enterprises and the overall economic well-being of the population. According to the JRC document, this is intended to be addressed through the deployment of solar power plants in the coal mining regions, namely the use of open pit mines, unsuitable for agriculture and other activities, lands and roofs of residential buildings.

Miners are offered to take up retraining in order to service solar power plants projects, where, under the optimistic scenario, 124,000 jobs are expected to be created, as well as 135,000 vacancies in the field of installation of related equipment. The related servicing business can provide about 50,000 jobs in the field of maintenance and repair of solar power plants. The study did not take into account the prospects of creating facilities for processing and recycling of equipment from solar power plant facilities, as well as the development of electric transport and electrification of other industries. Modeling results from the US Solar Census 2018 survey were used to calculate employment potential. In particular, JRC estimates that labor costs per 1 MW per year to service and maintain solar power plant facilities will amount to 0.17 full-time work equivalent. Installation and repair of the equipment will require 3.5 full-time work equivalent. Although with the rise of automation and the technological advance, the demand for labor may be reduced, JRC experts suggest that solar generation should be addressed as a comprehensive tool to preserve the economic and labor potential of the EU coal mining regions.

Another important advantage of solar power plant development in the coal mining regions is the development of distributed generation with localization and synchronization of production and consumption, as well as the ability to use existing infrastructure for transmission of electricity without the construction of additional networks.

According to the study, as of 2018, the installed capacity of RES in the EU coal mining regions is approximately 2 GW, of which 37% is solar power plant. JRC experts consider this to be the initial stage during which business is testing the possibility of using solar generation to produce electricity in coal-mining regions. More active development of this area requires comprehensive state support programs with a well-thought-out long-term policy for the development of regions and networks. The new European Commissioners for Energy and the relevant profile institutions will likely work on their development and implementation.

In the process of decommissioning of coal mines and power plants in the EU member states, the deployment of solar power plants in coal-mining regions is considered promising.

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