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Britain’s last coal-fired power station will close late on Monday, ending the country’s 142-year dependence on fossil fuels to produce electricity.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has been producing electricity since 1968 through four coal-fired boilers, eight expansive cooling towers and a 199m chimney that occupies a prominent place on the East Midlands skyline.
The power station will be able to power around 2 million homes and will be the last power station of its kind in the UK since September 2023, when Northern Ireland’s Kilroot power station stopped producing electricity from coal. It becomes.
The UK’s coal-free journey has been driven by a combination of decarbonisation targets and a dramatic increase in the viability and affordability of renewable energy.
Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Information Unit (ECIU), said: “This is a British success story overseen by successive governments from all walks of life.”
“Some people warned of blackouts as coal disappeared from the grid, but their predictions of doom were proven wrong time and time again.”
Many of the 170 employees employed by the plant’s owner, Uniper, will remain to assist in the two-year decommissioning process.
The closure of Ratcliffe marks the complete end of the country’s use of coal for electricity, which began in 1882 with the world’s first Holborn Viaduct power station in London.
Coal continued to play a key role in the nation’s energy supply throughout the 20th century, providing around 80 per cent of the UK’s electricity in 1990, but falling to 39 per cent in 2012.
Since then, 15 coal-fired power stations have closed or switched fuels, leaving fossil fuels to account for just 1% of the UK’s supply last year, according to data from National Grid electricity system operator. .
Meanwhile, government statistics show that renewable energy, mainly wind and solar power, now accounts for more than half of the total.
Gas is also playing a role in this switch, increasing from 28% of the electricity mix in 2012 to 34% last year.
Darla Vyas, Deputy Chief Executive of Energy UK, said: “Ten years ago, coal was the main source of electricity in this country, generating a third of our electricity.
“So reaching this point after just 10 years, with the contribution of coal being replaced by clean, low-carbon resources, is an incredible achievement.
“As we aim for even more ambitious goals in the energy transition, it is worth remembering that at the time, few thought that such changes at such a pace would be possible. .”
National Grid data shows coal will account for just 1% of the UK’s electricity supply in 2023, down from 39% in 2012. Meanwhile, wind and solar power have surged to provide more than 50 percent of the country’s electricity.
The UK will be the first country in the G7 bloc of major global economies to reach this milestone, while countries such as Sweden and Belgium were among the first in Europe to completely phase out coal.
France, on the other hand, has a grace period of until 2027 to complete the phase-out, and Canada has a similar deadline of 2030. Germany’s current plan is not to phase it out until 2038.
But with the newly elected Labor government aiming to achieve net-zero emissions from electricity generation by 2030, what comes next will be much bigger cuts in gas usage and even more renewable energy. It’s a challenge.
The first step was to create a new state energy investment company, GB Energy, and lift the de facto ban on new onshore wind projects in the UK planning system.
The government also signed contracts in early September for a new wave of green power projects, including onshore and offshore wind and solar farms, which authorities say will generate enough power for 11 million homes in annual tenders. Announced.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “The closure of Ratcliffe Power Station today marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of the work they have done to power our country for more than 140 years. It will be possible,” he said. As a nation, we owe a debt of gratitude for generations.
“The age of coal may be ending, but a new era of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning. The government’s clean energy superpower mission is The goal is to create good jobs with new technology.
“That work increases our energy security and independence, helps protect families from rising global fossil fuel prices, creates jobs and tackles climate change.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband recently said that switching to clean electricity would simply help fight the climate crisis, after gas prices soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leading to higher consumer bills in 2022 and 2023. It is also about energy security.
Coal is a major contributor to the climate crisis, emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In 2022 alone, this fuel accounted for 30% of all harmful greenhouse gases.
At their peak, Britain’s coal-fired power stations emitted more than 150 million tonnes of CO2 a year, making the UK one of the world’s biggest polluters.
Renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency reports that by 2023, an estimated 96% of new solar and onshore wind farms around the world will cost less to generate electricity than new natural gas.
Mr Ralston said: ‘British people are distressed by their over-reliance on gas for electricity and heating during the ongoing gas price crisis, and need to not only reduce emissions but also stabilize energy prices. For our own sake, we are eager to transition to renewable energy.”
As for coal, many countries may be phasing it out, but global fossil fuel use for electricity still grew by 1.1% last year, according to energy analysis firm Ember.
This is mainly led by China, which accounts for 54.9 percent of the world’s coal-fired power generation.
But China added seven times more renewable energy capacity than coal last year, showing that even the world’s largest coal-using country is eventually transitioning to clean energy.
Kristin Shearer, a research analyst at Global Energy Monitor, said there is “still a lot of work to do” to meet the global goal of phase-out, much of it by 2035 in developed countries. This is the goal.
He added: “The good news is that the UK has shown that when countries make a clear commitment to phase out coal, it often happens sooner than planned. “This opens the door to cheaper alternatives,” he added.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “As the UK moves away from fossil fuels, it is vital that jobs and workers’ rights are protected.”
“In Ratcliffe-on-Soar, trade unions GMB, Unite and Prospect worked with employers to ensure all workers affected by the closure were redeployed. By putting workers at the center of the plan, workers are not left behind, in contrast to the chaotic job losses threatened in the steel and oil and gas industries.
“Achieving climate justice requires a strong industrial strategy, supported by sustained public investment and the voice of workers.”Ratcliffe believes that with the right approach, a tailored approach to new jobs will It gives us hope that we can invest in pathways and skills creation.”