Coal power in Russia is one of the largest sources of energy in Russia, accounting for 14.4% of the country's energy consumption. The prominence of coal power in Russia has been declining since 1990, although Russia has among the largest coal reserves in the world. Russia is the fifth largest consumer of coal in the world and is the sixth largest producer of coal.
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Coal reserves
Russia has the second largest coal reserves in the world, equaling 19% of the world's total. The total coal reserves in Russia amount to 173 billion tons. This puts Russia behind the United States in total coal reserves, which has 263 billion tons. Most of Russia's coal reserves are in the Kuznetsk and Kansk-Achinsk basins.
Coal production
Russia is currently sixth in the world in terms of coal production. It produced 323 million tons of coal in 2009, roughly 4% of the world's total production. Coal production decreased in the 1990s with the fall of the Soviet Union, going from a production of 425 million tons in 1988 to 232 million tons in 1998. Production began to recover in 2003 and reached 329 million tons, although production has declined since then. The major areas of coal production are the Donets, Moscow, Pechora, Kuznetsk, Kansk-Achinsk, Irkutsk and South Yakutsk basins. The two major coal producers in Russia are Rosugol and Donugol. Over two-thirds of coal produced in Russia is used domestically.
Coal consumption
Russia is self-sufficient in coal, and consumed 223 million tons of coal in 2009. The percentage of coal in Russian power generation has been declining since 1990, when it was 20.7%, due to increasing gas consumption as well as increasing nuclear and hydroelectric energy production. Currently only 14.4% of Russia's power is produced from coal.