A Coruña Coal Terminal
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The A Coruña Coal Terminal was a coal import terminal located at the port of A Coruña, Spain. It historically imported large volumes of coal for electricity generation at the nearby Meirama power station, but in recent years it has served only as an occasional coal transshipment point following the closure of the Meirama power plant in 2020.[1]
Location
The map below shows the exact location of the A Coruña coal terminal, at the Port of A Coruña in Galicia, Spain.
Background
The Port of A Coruña coal terminal, located at the port's Centenario pier[2], historically handled coal imports for the Meirama and Compostilla power stations in northwestern Spain.[3] At its peak, the terminal was designed to handle 1.3 million tonnes of coal imports annually[2], using modern infrastructure inaugurated in 2007 that included a continuous unloader for 120,000-tonne Capesize vessels, a giant domed coal storage facility known as "La Medusa", a system of covered conveyor belts, and a railway line connecting the port to the Meirama power plant.[4][5] As recently as 2017 the terminal was operating at close to capacity, receiving 1,286,262 tonnes of imported coal in 2017.[3] However, coal imports dropped off precipitously in 2019, totalling only 158,000 tonnes[6], and stopped altogether in 2020[6] with the closure of the Meirama and Compostilla power plants.[7]
In February 2022 the Port Authority of A Coruña approved the conversion of the "Medusa" coal storage facility into a public venue for concerts and sporting events[8], and in 2025 Repsol began dismantling additional coal unloading infrastructure at the adjacent San Diego pier.[9]
In 2022 the Port of A Coruña began handling occasional transshipments of coal in response to the Russia-Ukraine war, with deliveries of coal temporarily stored in the dock area pending shipment to their ultimate ports of destination in northern Europe.[1] However, as of March 2026, transshipments through A Coruña appeared to be declining, with no such activity yet recorded in 2026.[1]
Project Details
- Operator: Unión Fenosa Generación, S.A.[10]
- Location: A Coruña, Galicia, Spain
- Coal Capacity: 1.3 Mtpa (million tonnes per annum)[2]
- Status: Retired[1][6][8][9][11]
- Start date: 2007 (modern port infrastructure including "La Medusa")[4][12]
- Retirement date: 2020[6][7][11]
- Type: Imports[3]
- Sources of coal: United States (Wyoming)[11], South Africa[13], Indonesia[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "El balance del Puerto de A Coruña de enero y febrero: adiós al carbón y bienvenidos madera y vidrio". El Ideal Gallego. 2026-03-30. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "La construcción de la Medusa en el Centenario comenzará en breve". La Voz de Galicia. 2002-10-28. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Cómo llega a España: Centrales Térmicas y Puertos de Descarga de Carbón - Relación entre emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y puertos de descarga de carbón". Greenpeace España. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 "La Medusa supera las pruebas y pone en marcha el circuito cerrado de carbón". La Voz de Galicia. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Fenosa prueba el tren que unirá el puerto coruñés con la central térmica de Meirama". La Voz de Galicia. 2001-10-24. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "El cierre de la central de Meirama deja en el aire el futuro de la Medusa". La Voz de Galicia. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Spain closes 7 coal-fired power plants totalling 4.6 GW". Enerdata. 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 "La Medusa dejará el puerto de A Coruña, pero seguirá en la ciudad". La Voz de Galicia. 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Repsol desmantela sus instalaciones de sólidos del Puerto interior de A Coruña" (PDF). Repsol. 2025-03-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "BOE-B-2001-147139 Unión Fenosa Generación". Boletín Oficial del Estado. 2001-06-20. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Descarbonización, un lago artificial y un cura rojo: adiós a 40 años de actividad en Meirama". El Confidencial. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "El futuro del puerto sin carbón: ¿Qué se puede hacer con la Medusa?". La Voz de Galicia. 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Cada día se mueven tres mil toneladas de carbón procedente de Sudáfrica". La Voz de Galicia. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
