DTEK Energy in the first ten months of 2017 increased purchase of gas coal from the Lviv-Volyn basin by 9.8% compared to the same period last year, to 595,000 tonnes, the press service of the company has reported.

According to its data, in October 2017 coal supplies from the basin mines to DTEK stations grew by 42% compared to October last year, to 74,000 tonnes.

The increase in purchases is caused by the growing load on thermal power plants (TPP), which operate on Ukrainian gas coal. In addition, from the autumn of 2017 additional demand for gas coal arose because of the transfer of anthracite blocks of TPPs to gas coal. Due to the transfer from anthracite to gas coal of only two blocks at Prydniprovska station, the demand for gas coal increased by 80,000 tonnes per month.

The company said DTEK maximally supplies its TPPs with Ukrainian coal in order to ensure stable production of electricity with the minimal use of imported resources. At the same time, in the current heating season, the company again faced a seasonal deficit of gas coal, solving this problem by import deliveries from the United States. Last year, the deficit was covered by Polish resources, but this year Poland itself is experiencing an acute shortage of coal.