ThyseenKrupp Resource Technologis has received an order from the Belgrade based, state-owned power utility Elektropriveda Srbiie (EPS) to supply, install and commission a bucket wheel excavator system in a contract worth over €30 million. The crawler-mounted system, consisting of an excavator, connecting bridge and loading unit is scheduled to start operation at the end of 2015. Capable of handling up to 6,600 m3 od overburden per hour the unit will be deployed in a lignite mine in the Kolubara coal basin.
The new bucket wheel excavator is part of the investment program “Environmental Improvement Project in Kolubara Mine Basin” being carried out by EPS to secure and expand electricity generation from coal-fired power plants. EPS currently operates five open-pit lignite mines in Serbia in the Kolubara and Kostolac coal basins with a total capacity of approximately 38 Mt/y.
This contract is a further milestone in the long-standing business relations between ThyssenKrupp and EPS. Back in 2010 ThyssenKrupp supplied a comparable bucket wheel excavator system for the Kolubara/Tamnava-West mine and a spreader with tripper car for the Kostolac/Drmno mine. A further contract for a type SchRs 740 L bucket wheel excavator to mine lignite in the Kolubara/Tamnava-West mine is currently being carried out.
