The recent high energy prices and the discovery of new clean-coal technologies are leading to an unexpected revival of the coal industry in Wales.

Miners in front of the entrance to the last deep mine in Wales, Tower Colliery are about to start the early morning shift underground, in Hirwaun, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

The Vale of Neath, South Wales, has maintained its predominant position in the history and production of coal since the Industrial Revolution in mid-nineteenth century.

In 1984 and 1985, with Margaret Thatcher as the British Prime Minister, the loss-making, government-owned coal industry soon clashed with her liberal economic policies.

 

Miners at the Unity Mine complex are starting the early morning shift by having a cigarette while others are collecting the coal needed for the heating of the main complex, in Cwmgwrach, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

The Vale of Neath is visible from the Tower Colliery complex in Hirwaun, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, the only deep coal mine left in the valleys is Tower Colliery, bought by its miners in an unconventional move to save it from bankruptcy. Twenty years passed by, and in 2006, the time was ripe again for an unexpected revival of the industry in the Vale of Neath. Due to the increasing prize and diminishing reserves of oil and gas, the uncertainties of renewable energy sources to provide for an ever larger request, and the technological advancement in producing energy from coal while limiting the emissions of pollutants, has created the basis for valuable investment opportunities and a possible alternative to the more energy crisis.

Gwyn Evans, 48, one of the miners working to restore Unity Mine is portrayed while having a break on the surface in Cwmgwrach, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

Miners are overlooking operations to bring a new USD 2.5 million excavator drill close to the coal face in order to start extracting again, in Cwmgwrach, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

Mark Frances, 33, the control operator at the Coal Washery, a section of the Coal Processing Plant at Tower Colliery, the last deep mine in Wales, is portrayed in the control room in Hirwaun, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a year-long refurbishment, and 8 years of inactivity, Unity has started working on its coal-face in July and has entrusted a group of die-hard miners with the duty of setting it up anew. Coal could be then answer to both, access to cheaper and paradoxically greener energy and a better and safer choice than nuclear energy as a major supply for the decades to come.

 

Miners at Unity Mine are extracting the first coal dug from the mine since its reopening more than a year ago, South Wales.

The coal washed at Unity Mine facilities is being loaded onto trucks and cargo trains to be sent to power stations around the United Kingdom from the Unity Mine complex in Cwmgwrach, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

Miners are having a laugh while on a short break from work inside Unity Mine, in Cwmgwrach, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

Vernon Watkins, 62, is holding some of the coal extracted from Unity Mine for the first time in 8 years, in Cwmgwrach, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

Gwyn Evans, 48, (left) and Keith Aubrey, 56, (right) miners working to restore Unity Mine, are joking with each others while taking a break on the surface, in Cwmgwrach, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

Vernon Watkins, 62, (right) is talking to project manager, Stuart Beaumont, appointed by Centechnology, the company working to restore Unity Mine and bring it to its full extraction capacity, (1 million tonnes a year) in Cwmgwrach, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

Miners are having a shower at the Tower Colliery complex after a long day underground, in Hirwaun, Vale of Neath, South Wales.Miners are having a shower at the Tower Colliery complex after a long day underground, in Hirwaun, Vale of Neath, South Wales.

It is estimated that coal reserves in Wales amount to over 250 million tonnes, or the equivalent of at least 50 years of energy supply, while the worldwide total coal could last for over 200 years as a viable resource compared to only a few decades of oil and natural gas.

However, developing CO2-free power plant is a tedious, lenghty and expensive job. ‘Business is business’ some people say, but how about ‘Our’ plans towards a sustainable, alternative source of energy?

Could clean-coal be the middle way forward?

Alex Masi

See more images on Alex Masi’s website and Archive.