Great River Energy extends coal contract with The Falkirk Mine to 2045

UNDERWOOD, ND – Great River Energy recently extended a contract with The Falkirk Mining Company (a wholly-owned subsidiary of The North American Coal Corporation) to provide all of Coal Creek Station’s lignite coal requirements through 2045.

The original contract between Great River Energy and The Falkirk Mining Company was signed in 1974. This is the second extension of the original contract. The first occurred in 2000, and extended the contract from 2013-2020.

The new contract will match the fuel supply to the expected life expectancy of the power plant, and is a credit to the partnership between Coal Creek Station and The Falkirk Mine.

“The extension of a contract to 2045 only works when two companies have common goals, good communication and trust, and that’s something that has occurred over the past 33 years,” said Carl Sulzer, manager, generation services, Great River Energy.

The contract also assures that Coal Creek Station will continue to realize the advantages of a mine-mouth operation as The Falkirk Mine is located adjacent to the power plant, near Underwood, ND.

“This coal supply arrangement provides a stable, secure delivery of coal at reasonable and relatively stable prices, and without the surprise of delivery issues that we see at many other power plants,” says Sulzer.

Coal Creek Station receives about 8 million tons of lignite coal annually from The Falkirk Mine.

Great River Energy, Elk River, Minn. is a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative providing electricity to 28 distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is the second largest power supplier in the state of Minnesota, and the fourth largest cooperative of its type in the nation.