Britain's last remaining coal power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, will stop electricity generation on Monday after 57 years of operation. The closure aligns with the government's coal phase-out policy, initiated nearly a decade ago.
Issued on: 30/09/2024
FRANCE24
Britain announced plans to close all its coal-fired power stations by 2025, such as Ferrybridge in northern England. © OLI SCARFF / AFPBy:NEWS WIRES
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Britain will become the first G7 country to end coal-fired power production on Monday with the closure of its last plant, Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar in England’s Midlands.
It will end over 140 years of coal power in Britain.
In 2015 Britain announced plans to close coal plants within the next decade as part of wider measures to reach its climate targets. At that time almost 30% of the country’s electricity came from coal but this had fallen to just over 1% last year.
“The UK has proven that it is possible to phase out coal power at unprecedented speed,” said Julia Skorupska, Head of the Powering Past Coal Alliance secretariat, a group of around 60 national governments seeking to end coal power.
The drop in coal power has helped cut Britain's greenhouse gas emissions, which have more than halved since 1990.
Britain, which has a target to reach net zero emissions by 2050, also plans to decarbonise the electricity sector by 2030, a move which will require a rapid ramp-up in renewable power such as wind and solar.
“The era of coal might be ending, but a new age of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning," energy minister Michael Shanks said in an emailed statement.
Emissions from energy make up around three quarters of total greenhouse gas emissions and scientists have said that the use of fossil fuels must be curbed to meet goals set under the Paris climate agreement.
In April the G7 major industrialised countries agreed to scrap coal power in the first half of the next decade, but also gave some leeway to economies who are heavily coal-reliant, drawing criticism from green groups.
“There is a lot of work to do to ensure that both the 2035 target is met and brought forward to 2030, particularly in Japan, the US, and Germany,” said Christine Shearer, Research Analyst, Global Energy Monitor.
Coal power still makes up more than 25% of Germany's electricity and more than 30% of Japan’s power.
(REUTERS)
Britain's last coal-fired electricity plant is closing. Over 140 years of coal power.
Britain’s last coal-fired power plant is closing
ByJILL LAWLESS Associated Press
September 30, 2024
LONDON -- Britain’s last coal-fired power plant will close on Monday, ending 142 years of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution.
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station in central England is to finish its final shift at midnight, after more than half a century of turning coal into power. Owner Uniper says many of the 170 remaining employees will stay on during a two-year decommissioning process.
The U.K. government hailed the closure as a milestone in efforts to generate all of Britain’s energy from renewable sources by 2030. The shutdown makes Britain the first country from the Group of Seven major economies to phase out coal — though some other European nations, including Sweden and Belgium, got there sooner.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the plant’s closure “marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of their work powering our country for over 140 years. We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country.”
“The era of coal might be ending, but a new age of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning,” he said.
The world’s first coal-fired electricity plant, Thomas Edison’s Edison Electric Light Station, opened in London in 1882.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which opened in 1968, is a landmark whose eight concrete cooling towers and 199-meter (650-foot) chimney are seen by millions of people a year as they drive past on the M1 highway or speed by on trains.
In 1990 coal provided about 80% of Britain’s electricity. By 2012 it had fallen to 39%, and by 2023 it stood at just 1%, according to figures from the National Grid. More than half of Britain’s electricity now comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, and the rest from natural gas and nuclear energy.
“Ten years ago, coal was the leading source of this country’s power — generating a third of our electricity,” said Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive of trade body Energy U.K.
“So, to get to this point just a decade later, with coal’s contribution replaced by clean and low carbon sources, is an incredible achievement," Vyas said. "As we aim for further ambitious targets in the energy transition, it’s worth remembering that few back then thought such a change at such a pace was possible.”
Britain’s last coal-fired power plant is closing
ByJILL LAWLESS Associated Press
September 30, 2024
LONDON -- Britain’s last coal-fired power plant will close on Monday, ending 142 years of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution.
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station in central England is to finish its final shift at midnight, after more than half a century of turning coal into power. Owner Uniper says many of the 170 remaining employees will stay on during a two-year decommissioning process.
The U.K. government hailed the closure as a milestone in efforts to generate all of Britain’s energy from renewable sources by 2030. The shutdown makes Britain the first country from the Group of Seven major economies to phase out coal — though some other European nations, including Sweden and Belgium, got there sooner.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the plant’s closure “marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of their work powering our country for over 140 years. We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country.”
“The era of coal might be ending, but a new age of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning,” he said.
The world’s first coal-fired electricity plant, Thomas Edison’s Edison Electric Light Station, opened in London in 1882.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which opened in 1968, is a landmark whose eight concrete cooling towers and 199-meter (650-foot) chimney are seen by millions of people a year as they drive past on the M1 highway or speed by on trains.
In 1990 coal provided about 80% of Britain’s electricity. By 2012 it had fallen to 39%, and by 2023 it stood at just 1%, according to figures from the National Grid. More than half of Britain’s electricity now comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, and the rest from natural gas and nuclear energy.
“Ten years ago, coal was the leading source of this country’s power — generating a third of our electricity,” said Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive of trade body Energy U.K.
“So, to get to this point just a decade later, with coal’s contribution replaced by clean and low carbon sources, is an incredible achievement," Vyas said. "As we aim for further ambitious targets in the energy transition, it’s worth remembering that few back then thought such a change at such a pace was possible.”
UK's last coal-fired power plant officially closes as 'ambitious' energy transition takes hold
By Aoife Hilton with wires
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has dominated the East Midlands landscape for 60 years. (AFP: Oli Scarff)
In short:
The last coal-fired power station in the United Kingdom officially closes down today, ending the nearly 150-year history of British coal power.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station began operating in 1967 and it has dominated the East Midlands landscape in the 60 years since.
What's next?
The station is set to be dismantled by the end of a decade, with a "carbon-free technology and energy hub" built in its place.
abc.net.au/news/last-coal-fired-power-plant-in-uk-officially-closes/104378430Link copied
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has dominated the East Midlands landscape for 60 years. (AFP: Oli Scarff)
In short:
The last coal-fired power station in the United Kingdom officially closes down today, ending the nearly 150-year history of British coal power.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station began operating in 1967 and it has dominated the East Midlands landscape in the 60 years since.
What's next?
The station is set to be dismantled by the end of a decade, with a "carbon-free technology and energy hub" built in its place.
abc.net.au/news/last-coal-fired-power-plant-in-uk-officially-closes/104378430Link copied
The last coal-fired power station in the United Kingdom officially closes down today, book-ending the nearly 150-year history of British coal power.
The plan to decommission Ratcliffe-on-Soar station came after the then-Conservative government announced in 2015 that it intended to shut all UK coal-fired power stations by 2025 to reduce carbon emissions.
Britain's break-up with coal
Photo shows Men in high vis gear holding lumps of coal
The UK adopts ambitious emissions targets, making it the first major economy aiming to end its contribution to global warming by 2050.
The local government began negotiating a plan in 2021 to redevelop the site and announced it in 2023. The station's German owner, Uniper, later confirmed that all four of the station's units would close by the end of September 2024.
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station made its last energy delivery at the start of the British summer, supplying 500,000 homes for eight hours using 1,650 tonnes of coal.
A Uniper statement to the ABC clarified the station had been "operating as normal" until its closure, despite making no deliveries.
After closing, Ratcliffe-on-Soar is set to be dismantled "by the end of the decade", according to Uniper.
In its place will be a new development — a "carbon-free technology and energy hub", the company says.
The move makes the UK the first of the G7 nations to go entirely without coal-powered electricity, and is a symbolic step towards the country's ambition to decarbonise electricity by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050.
Italy plans rid itself of its last coal-fired power stations by next year, with France following suit in 2027, Canada in 2030 and Germany in 2038.
'End of an era' for British coal
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station delivered its last electricity at the start of the British summer. (AFP: Oli Scarff)
Coal has played a vital part in British economic history since the world's first coal-fired power station was built in central London in 1882.
The design was credited to Thomas Edison, three years after the invention of the electric light bulb.
Nothing remains of that station, but memories of the choking smog it contributed to live on.
Construction of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station began in 1963. The facility began operating in 1967 and it has dominated the East Midlands landscape in the 60 years since — double the expected "lifetime" of a fossil-fuel plant.
Uniper said this extension was due to "our investments in technical advancements and modifications over the years", including the switch "from delivering base load power to more flexible power generation".
"This and work to reduce the station's environmental emissions have enabled it to be the last coal plant standing in the UK," it said in a statement to the ABC.
At the mainline railway station serving the nearby East Midlands Airport, its giant cooling towers rise up seemingly within touching distance of the track and platform.
Having the site dismantled is expected to feel "strange" for those used to seeing it. (Reuters: Darren Staples)
Historian Hubert J Pragnell once called the plant "a site of interest rather than beauty", noting the "giant" chimney rising 200 metres high and white smoke emerging from its summit.
Other than as a politely obscured eyesore, the plant was known for being the first fitted with flue gas desulphurisation technology – essentially "scrubbing" equipment that removes the dangerous chemical sulphur dioxide from exhaust gasses.
David Reynolds, a 74-year-old retiree who saw the site being built, anticipated its dismantling would feel "strange" for those used to the sight of it.
Tories turn their back on coal
Photo shows Image of Claire Perry
The plan to decommission Ratcliffe-on-Soar station came after the then-Conservative government announced in 2015 that it intended to shut all UK coal-fired power stations by 2025 to reduce carbon emissions.
Britain's break-up with coal
Photo shows Men in high vis gear holding lumps of coal
The UK adopts ambitious emissions targets, making it the first major economy aiming to end its contribution to global warming by 2050.
The local government began negotiating a plan in 2021 to redevelop the site and announced it in 2023. The station's German owner, Uniper, later confirmed that all four of the station's units would close by the end of September 2024.
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station made its last energy delivery at the start of the British summer, supplying 500,000 homes for eight hours using 1,650 tonnes of coal.
A Uniper statement to the ABC clarified the station had been "operating as normal" until its closure, despite making no deliveries.
After closing, Ratcliffe-on-Soar is set to be dismantled "by the end of the decade", according to Uniper.
In its place will be a new development — a "carbon-free technology and energy hub", the company says.
The move makes the UK the first of the G7 nations to go entirely without coal-powered electricity, and is a symbolic step towards the country's ambition to decarbonise electricity by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050.
Italy plans rid itself of its last coal-fired power stations by next year, with France following suit in 2027, Canada in 2030 and Germany in 2038.
'End of an era' for British coal
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station delivered its last electricity at the start of the British summer. (AFP: Oli Scarff)
Coal has played a vital part in British economic history since the world's first coal-fired power station was built in central London in 1882.
The design was credited to Thomas Edison, three years after the invention of the electric light bulb.
Nothing remains of that station, but memories of the choking smog it contributed to live on.
Construction of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station began in 1963. The facility began operating in 1967 and it has dominated the East Midlands landscape in the 60 years since — double the expected "lifetime" of a fossil-fuel plant.
Uniper said this extension was due to "our investments in technical advancements and modifications over the years", including the switch "from delivering base load power to more flexible power generation".
"This and work to reduce the station's environmental emissions have enabled it to be the last coal plant standing in the UK," it said in a statement to the ABC.
At the mainline railway station serving the nearby East Midlands Airport, its giant cooling towers rise up seemingly within touching distance of the track and platform.
Having the site dismantled is expected to feel "strange" for those used to seeing it. (Reuters: Darren Staples)
Historian Hubert J Pragnell once called the plant "a site of interest rather than beauty", noting the "giant" chimney rising 200 metres high and white smoke emerging from its summit.
Other than as a politely obscured eyesore, the plant was known for being the first fitted with flue gas desulphurisation technology – essentially "scrubbing" equipment that removes the dangerous chemical sulphur dioxide from exhaust gasses.
David Reynolds, a 74-year-old retiree who saw the site being built, anticipated its dismantling would feel "strange" for those used to the sight of it.
Tories turn their back on coal
Photo shows Image of Claire Perry
As Tony Abbott and other Coalition MPs push for new coal-fired power stations, British Conservatives are pulling the UK in a much different direction.
"It has always been there," he said.
"When I was younger you could go down certain parts and you saw nothing but coal pits."
Ratcliffe-on-Soar had the potential to power more than 2 million homes, but in recent years was only used during high-usage spikes including a 2022 cold snap and 2023 heat wave.
"It's like the end of an era," local resident Becky said.
Her father, who works at the power station, would be out of a job, she said.
"It's their life."
The power station employed 350 remaining employees before its official closure.
A Uniper statement to the ABC insisted "every effort is being made to support colleagues in finding suitable redeployment opportunities" elsewhere in the company.
The local council also says the new development will create thousands of jobs.
In a 2023 statement after announcing Ratcliffe-on-Soar's closure, then-leader of the council Neil Clarke estimated 7,000 people could be employed at the new site.
Power plant closure 'only the first step' for energy transition
The power station employed 350 remaining employees before its official closure. (Reuters: Darren Staples)
The UK's energy transition has been brewing for decades, with a sharp decline in coal usage seen between the 1980s and today.
In the 1980s, upwards of 70 per cent of the UK's electricity generation came from coal.
But that portion declined in the 1990s, slumping to 38 per cent in 2013, 5 per cent in 2018, then just 1 per cent last year.
By last year, natural gas represented a third of the UK's electricity production, while a quarter came from wind power and 13 per cent from nuclear power, according to electricity operator National Grid ESO.
Britain records first coal-free week
Photo shows uk walney wind farm power
Britain hasn't used any coal-powered energy since May 2 — a record for the country, helped by investment in renewables.
Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think-tank, explained that the UK phased out coal "through a combination of economics and then regulations".
"So larger power plants like coal plants had regulations put on them because of all the sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides, all the emissions coming from the plant and that meant that it was no longer economically attractive to invest in those sorts of plants," she said.
The new Labour government launched its flagship green energy plan after its election win in July, with the creation of a publicly owned body to invest in offshore wind, tidal power and nuclear power.
Ms Ralston said the UK's 2030 clean-energy target was "very ambitious".
"It sends a very strong message that the UK is taking climate change as a matter of great importance and also that this is only the first step," she added.
When could Australia go without coal?
Liddell power station in Muswellbrook, NSW, which closed last year. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)
Both major parties in Australia have outlined plans to phase out coal in the energy transition, with the Australian Energy Market Operator reporting half our coal-fired power stations have announced retirement dates for before 2035, and all but one are set to retire by 2051.
But the operator's 2024 report predicts they will shut down even sooner, with the entire fleet likely to be decommissioned by 2040.
The report says the National Electricity Market "must triple its capacity" by 2050 to replace retiring coal-fired power stations and meet increasing demand.
It calls for "higher levels of flexible gas capacity" alongside "very high penetrations of renewable energy".
Renewables delivered almost 40 per cent of the National Electricity Market's total energy in 2023.
On October 24 , 2023, 72.1 per cent of total National Electricity Market generation came from renewable sources — a new record for a 30-minute period.
But the operator warns "challenges and risks are already being experienced" during Australia's energy transition, including "unplanned coal generator outages", project delays and workforce shortages.
"The possibility that replacement generation is not available when coal power stations retire is real and growing, and a risk that must be avoided," it has said.
"The sooner firmed renewables are connected, the more secure the energy transition will be."
ABC/AFP
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