Who says there’s no future for US coal? There is, and it’s coming from expanding export markets.

Pennsylvania based Xcoal Energy and Resources won a contract to supply thermal coal to Ukraine’s state-owned power generation company, Centrenergo PJSC. The contract was signed at the US embassy in Kyiv and calls for the shipment of 700,000 tons of US coal for the upcoming heating season.

Ukraine wanted to diversify its energy supply which has historically been negatively impacted by the volatility of the governments of the countries Ukraine relies on for energy. In the past, Russia has restricted the flow of natural gas to Ukraine as well as other countries.

XCoal has stated that it anticipates that shipments of US coal are planned to arrive in Ukraine in late August or early September, in time to stockpile fuel for the winter heating season.

Multiple US government agencies and offices were involved in making this deal a reality including the Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce.

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the Trump administration “has brought enormous benefit to our nation’s coal communities.” The Ukraine deal, he added, will help “bolster a key strategic partner against regional pressures that seek to undermine US interests.”

“In recent years Kiev and much of Eastern Europe have been reliant on and beholden to Russia to keep the heat on,” said US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “That changes now.”

“ US coal will be a secure and reliable energy source for Centrenergo and its electricity customers,” Perry added. “This announcement will also boost our own economy by supporting jobs in the coal and transportation industries. This administration looks forward to making available even more of our abundant natural resources to allies and partners like Ukraine in the future to promote their own energy security through diversity of supply and source. Partnerships like this are crucial to the path forward to achieve energy dominance.”

According to a recent report from the Energy Information Administration, US coal exports have increased by nearly 60 percent in the first months of the Trump administration.