Russian coal lands in Britain as new environmental legislation comes in

A CONSIGNMENT of 5000 tonnes of Russian coal has been shipped into the UK for use by steam railways.

Imported and distributed by Roy Hatfield Ltd of Rotherham, the lump coal arrived at Hull Docks in early June following successful trials of an earlier 300-tonne batch at the North Yorkshire Moors, Severn Valley, Isle of Wight, Talyllyn and Keighley & Worth Valley railways in December.

It is hoped it will provide a secure supply of fuel for heritage lines in the short term, while successful trials of biocoal at the Bure Valley Railway in June (see page 19) have offered hope that a sustainable alternative with significantly lower emissions can be developed in the longer term.

It follows new legislation which came into force on May 1, restricting the sale of bagged traditional house coal and wet wood, while a new Environment Bill was passing through Parliament.

Domestic mines close

Although coal is still continually imported for use by industries such as power generation, steel and cement making, it is in granular form and unsuitable for use in locomotives.

Domestic coal production in the UK is expected to cease next year with the anticipated closure of Ffos-y-Fran opencast mine in South Wales.

One of Britain's biggest remaining mining firms, the Banks Group, closed its Bradley, Brenkley Lane and Shotton opencast sites last year, and its planning applications for new mines in the North East have been rejected.

Another major player in the industry, Hargreaves, pulled out of coal mining in July last year, prompting the closure of its opencast sites in Fieldhouse, County Durham, and House of Water, Ayrshire.

Hartington mine in Derbyshire also closed in September, while the Nant Helen Extension mine in South Wales is expected to shut this December, according to anti-coal campaign group the Coal Action Network.

This and the closure of Ffos-yFran will leave only freeminers in the Forest of Dean extracting just 2500 tonnes per year by 2025; the annual consumption by the heritage industry is 35,000 tonnes. Because the impact of the pandemic reduced consumption in 2020, stocks of fuel from British mines are expected to last into 2022.

Regarding the new Russian coal, Steve Oates, CEO of the Heritage Railway Association, described Roy Hatfield Ltd as “happy, indeed keen, to work with heritage steam.”

Asked whether supplies could be affected by the current diplomatic tensions between the UK and Russia following the incident involving HMS Defender in the Black Sea on June 23, he said: “Yes, it's possible – and it is being watched for any commercial impact. It's felt unlikely to affect physical supplies, but it could affect price. In essence, this is perhaps already demonstrating what the HRA has been saying for some while; that once there is no more UK coal and we're relying on imports, we are subject to global markets and prices, and all the accompanying influences on those markets!”

Government measures

New legislation which came into force on May 1 made it illegal to sell bagged traditional house coal or wet wood in quantities of less than 25kg. This was part of measures by the Government to reduce air pollution, including a new Environment Bill which was passing through the House of Lords as this issue went to press.

The Environment Bill aims to set new targets to reduce emissions of particulate matter, imposes financial penalties for emissions from buildings, boilers or industrial plants “to which a smoke control order in England applies”, and makes it an offence to “acquire in England any controlled solid fuel for use in a building, fireplace, fixed boiler or industrial plant to which such an order applies.”

Thanks to lobbying on behalf of the heritage industry, an exemption clause was put forward to ensure the use of coal by steam railways, and other historic transport and buildings, is not affected.

“We’re working together in everybody’s interests.”

Lord Faulkner of Worcester, president of the HRA and vice-president of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Heritage Rail, tabled an amendment to the bill which stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, this act has no application to the emission of smoke from (a) the chimney of a railway locomotive, the chimney of a road vehicle or portable or stationary engine, the funnel of a vessel regarding which the emission of the smoke is an intrinsic feature of the functioning of the motive power concerned and in respect of which such motive power has been preserved, restored or recreated for heritage purposes; (b) the chimney of an historic building or the chimney or other outlet of a museum intended to portray the means of internal heating of the rooms in such building or museum or facilities for the cooking of food or the provision of other services therein.”

Lord Faulkner is a member of the Heritage Fuels Alliance, which also includes the Steamboat Association (of which Lord Forsyth is president) and the National Traction Engine Trust. “We're not just talking about railways – we're working together in everybody's interests,” said Steve Oates.

The 25kg restriction on sales of bagged coal could affect traction engines, which rely on such fuel. However, Steve added that Roy Hatfield Ltd is “currently talking through how to solve that for the road steam market.”