The contract was awarded by Voest-Alpine Materials Handling. Final delivery of belt was due to occur last month.

Over the next decade, the conveyor belt will carry an estimated 500 million cubic metres of overburden from coal deposits at the mine at a rate of about 20 tonnes per hour.

Phoenix said the strength rating of the conveyor belts ranged from St2000 to St4000 — the strongest belts supplied for the application. “One of the key aspects for this contracts was the requirement to manufacture, test and deliver the 30km of belting within the shortest possible time,” a company spokesperson said.

“Completing the delivery on time is a pre-requisite to guarantee the power supply to the people of Thailand.”

Lignite is used to generate 17% of Thailand’s energy.