Mátrai Erőmű Zrt. offers cheap, environment-friendly electricity produced from domestic resources in the third millennium

Mátrai Erőmű with an installed output of 836 MW is the largest coal-fired power plant in Hungary. Its main profile is electricity production providing 10 to 13% of the national demand. This electricity is produced from a domestic energy source, lignite, exploited by this joint-stock company by means of strip mining. Though having operated  for more than 35 years, the availability in average of this power plant is above 80%.

In addition to maintain and increase the present level of production, it is the main effort of this company to produce economic and marketable electricity in the long run with help of internal arrangements, development and new strategies. The indicators concerning electricity production determine the place of a joint-stock company in the electricity market as well as in the competition established among producers.

                                         2003     2004    2005    2006    2007     2008      2009

Electricity production

 (MWh)                              5 702      5 688    5 698   5 621   6 171   6 302    6 294

Self-consumption (%)        11.76     11.87     11.76    11.86   11.51   11.29   11.27

Coal production

in Visonta (kt)                    4 906  4 872     4 505   4 674   4 410   4 326  4 400

Rock excavation in Visonta

(thousand m3)             39 754    39 920     39 144   38 891   42 163    43 314   42 700

Coal production

in Bükkábrány (kt) 3 656      3 598       3 649     3 793     3 942      3 715     3 600

Rock excavation in Bükkábrány

(thousand m3)       16 178    16 382     19 794   19 388   21 020    19 176   20 200

Sales of electricity

(HUF thousand)    49 202    48 636     56 800   55 783   67 100    85 176   94 363

Sales of heat energy

(HUF thousand)     156         154          162        167        188         315        284

Staff (persons)   2 948      2 832       2 696     2 580     2 485      2 400      2426

From among the power plants in Hungary, Mátrai Erőmű was one of the first to obtain the ISO 9001 qualification in 1999 which has been renewed and also extended to several fields of operation of this joint-stock company ever since.

Based on the lignite field found in the vicinity of Visonta, the Mátrai Erőmű project of today was started in 1965. The first 100 MW block was delivered in 1969. Altogether

5 blocks of 800 MW installed output were delivered completely in 1972. Mátrai Erőmű operating for more than 35 years has produced about

130 billion kWh electricity through exploiting cheap domestic fuels. This power plant has been operating as a joint-stock company since 1 January 1992.

The coal supply for power plant has been provided by Mátraaljai Szénbányák Vállalat since 1969. Coal has been won by means of deep-mining technology to 1968 and strip-mining technology ever since. The project of Visontai Bánya serving Mátrai Erőmű of today was started in 1962 and the mine was opened in 1964. More than 240 million tons of lignite has been produced from the worked-out and landscaped surface mining as well as the presently operating surface mining during the past four decades. It was necessary to move almost 1.6 billion m3 of other sedimentary rock in order to have lignite brought to the surface.

The ownership and organisational integration of Mátraaljai Szénbányák and Mátrai Erőmű Részvénytársaság has been accomplished from 1 April 1993. The name of this vertically combined company established through the fusion of two companies is Mátrai Erőmű Zrt. which has become the biggest economic unit in Heves county. For the time being, lignite production takes place in the southern panel in the area of Visonta. The southern panel is located in the area delimited by the communities of Detk, Ludas, Karácsond, and Halmajugra. The coal production in the panel called Keleti-II found south-east of Detk finished in 2004. The open area of strip mining offers place for part of the dead-ground coming from the southern mine. The joint-stock company's mine at Bükkábrány is found at 55 km east of Visonta, in the area of Bükkábrány, Vatta and Csincse communities.