Mecsek Hills Power Station

{{#badges: CoalSwarm|Navbar-Hungaryandcoal}} The Mecsek Hills UCG Project is a proposed underground coal gasification (UCG) power station for southern Hungary by Wildhorse Energy.

Location

The map below shows Mecsek, the approximate location where the plant would be built.

Loading map...

{"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"600px","height":"500px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","visitedicon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"wmsoverlay":false,"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":7,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"markercluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","enablefullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":46.1,"lon":18.083333,"icon":""}]}

Background on plant

The project aims to produce synthetic gas (syngas) through the partial in-situ combustion of coal, which will be fed into a power plant to produce electricity.

Wildhorse Energy has coal and coalbed methane exploration license areas covering an area of approximately 420 km² in the Mecsek coal formation of the Pécs region in Southern Hungary. Its website states that, after exploration, "Wildhorse has determined that the Váralja target area [in the Pécs region] is ideally suited for [underground coal gasification] and has been selected as the location for the Company’s first UCG project."

The Project Pre-Feasibility Study was completed in the first quarter of 2012. The study was for a ≥400 MW Project consisting of two phases:

• Phase I – Commercial Demonstration Plant ‐ designed to have a capacity of approximately 130MW of syngas which will be used to supply a 61MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plant, with both the UCG and CCGT facilities expected to be in operation in Q4 2014;
• Phase II – Large Scale Commercial Plant ‐ designed to have a capacity of approximately 280 MW of syngas, with the UCG facility to supply syngas to a potential 130 MW (gross) power plant. The development of this phase will commence after the commissioning of Phase I.

Project cancelled

In October 2014 it was reported that Wildhorse Energy was to exit the Hungarian underground coal gasification sector, as the company’s shares had fallen 85% from the start of the year. The company said it had decided to shut down its Mecsek Hills UCG project in Hungary after failing to sell a part or all of the project to a strategic investor. The shutdown means the company will lose its mineral rights to the project. According to the company: "The value of the Hungarian projects had been progressively written down to nil value by 30 June 2014."

Project Details

• Sponsor: Wildhorse Energy
• Parent company:
• Developer:
• Location: Mecsek Hills, Hungary
• Coordinates: 46.1, 18.083333 (approximate)
• Status: Cancelled (2014)
• Capacity: 400 MW
• Type: Underground coal gasification
• Start date:
• Coal Type: Coal and coalbed methane
• Coal Source: Mecsek coal formation, Hungary
• Source of financing:

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch Articles

• Europe and coal
• Hungary and coal
• Global use and production of coal

External Articles

• András Perger, "The role of coal in the Hungarian electricity sector with special attention to the use of lignite," Energy Club, November 2009