Coal in Kosovo

Lignite coal in Kosovo is and will continue to be an important local energy source due to its high reserves.

[8][9][10][11] The first systematic records of lignite exploitation date from 1922, when small-scale, shallow underground room-and-pillar mining commenced in the Kosovo Basin.

The average stripping ratio is 1.7m3 of waste to one tonne of coal and the total estimated economically exploitable resource represents one of the richest in Europe, which would allow ambitious power generation and expansion schemes in forthcoming decades.

[13][14] The coal mines and power plants are located in Kastrioti (Kosovo), only 3 km away from the borders of the municipality of Prishtina.

[11] Average stripping ratio of waste to coal is 1.7m3 to 1, and it is of high quality for electricity generation.

[8] Kosovo has the second largest reserves of exploitable lignite in Europe, only after Germany and Poland.

[16] Lignite is the major source of energy in Kosovo and will remain to be so due to its high reserves.

[17] The coal in the Kosovo basin is of lignite type and its geological age is the Early Pontian P1.

In the southern parts of the Kosovo basin there is the Babush mine which also has a determined extent of coal reserves, with a surface of 0.5 km2 the Babush mine possesses geological reserves of coal of 3.7 million tons.

Zone G and I of the Kosovo basin have also been evaluated as very suitable for future exploitation based on their reserve quantity and overburden to coal ratio.

These two zones have been evaluated to be of sufficient capacity to enable the construction and running of new power plants.