Rosia Coal Mine

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Rosia Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Motru, Rovinari, Oltenia, Romania.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Rosia Coal Mine	Motru, Rovinari, Oltenia, Romania	44.8875, 23.1834 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1973	2030 (planned)

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	3.63	2021	Surface	Open Pit	17.3	50.0*	991.0

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
–	–	–	Oltenia	Lignite	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Note: To access more comprehensive data on energy ownership, please visit the Global Energy Ownership Tracker.

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Complexul Energetic Oltenia SA	Ministry of Energy (Romania) [77.2%]; Fondul Proprietatea SA [21.6%]	Romania

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
ROM	–	–	–	–	3.63	–	–	–	–

Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker May 2026 release.

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Background

The Oltenia Energy Complex is a network of coal mines and power plants, operated by Complexul Energetic Oltenia S.A., in Gorj, Vâlce, and Mehedinţi, Romania.

Between 2017 and 2021, Oltenia Energy Complex had an average annual production of approximately 18.5 million tonnes of lignite from the ten mines it operates. In 2022, production of the complex reached 18.2 million tonnes.

The company operates ten pits. The complex has closed several other pits over the years. The Oltenia Energy Complex was established in 2012 by merging Societatea Naţionala a Lignitului Oltenia with Energy Complexes Turceni, Rovinari and Craiova. The company has its material base in Gorj, Vâlcea and Mehedinţi counties with total reserves of 2 billion tonnes of coal.

A Restructuring Plan for the Oltenia Energy Complex was approved by the European Commission in January 2022 which anticipated the phased closure of Husnicioara, Peșteana and Lupoaia quarries and the transition to conservation of Tismana and Jilt Sud from 2026.

In September 2025, Romania's Ministry of Energy submitted to the European Commission a proposal to maintain three coal-fired units of the Oltenia Energy Complex in commercial operation and keep two further units in technical reserve, pending the full operationalisation of replacement capacity. An updated restructuring plan was simultaneously transmitted to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition, envisaging a postponement of coal unit closure deadlines to the end of 2029 and the continued operation of five mining quarries to supply lignite for power generation.

More information on the complex is under Oltenia Energy Complex.

Rosia

As of 2019, Oltenia wanted to expand Rosia's 1,450-hectare coal mine by a further 280 hectares, 235 of which were covered by forest which would have had to be cut down. The NGO BankWatch Romania challenged the expansion in court because the expansion would make it harder for the country to meet its coal phaseout targets. During the two-year legal battle, Bankwatch argued that the expansion had initially been granted without properly consulting locals and that the environmental impact of such an expansion had not been assessed. Bankwatch added that the expanded mine would pollute the area, including underground water, and that endangered species would also be negatively impacted. The court blocked the expansion.

In 2021, Rosia produced an estimated 3.63 million tonnes and was said to be the largest mine in Romania.

Euracoal report from January 2024 and another source referred to the planned closure of Rosia-Pesteana coal mine by the end of 2030.

A landslide occurred at the Rosia open-pit mine in December 2024, which had been predicted following a similar accident at the Pinoasa mine in August; CE Oltenia reported that the slope failure spanned approximately 40 metres on level IV of the pit near conveyor T121, with no equipment damage or casualties as the conveyor was out of service at the time for scheduled maintenance.

According to CE Oltenia's updated restructuring plan, the Rosia mine was designated as one of the last mines to close, with a planned closure date of 2030, and was identified as a priority operation due to its direct conveyor connection to the Rovinari power station, which reduces coal transport costs.

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.