Britain's last coal-fired power plant closes after 100 years | energy news

The UK’s net zero transition is transforming the country’s energy landscape.

The country's last coal-fired power station has closed, ending 142 years of coal-generated electricity in the country that sparked the Industrial Revolution.

Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in central England is due to finish its final shift at midnight on Monday after converting from coal to electricity for more than half a century.

The UK government welcomed the closure as a milestone in its efforts to generate all of the UK's energy from renewable sources by 2030.

Plant manager Peter OGrady said it was an emotional day.

When I started my career 36 years ago, none of us could have imagined a future without coal power in our lifetime, he told the Associated Press news agency.

The closure makes Britain the first G7 major economy to do so, although other European countries, including Sweden and Belgium, have phased out coal sooner.

UK Energy Secretary Michael Shanks said the plant's closure marked the end of an era and coal workers could rightly be proud of their hard work that has powered our country for more than 140 years. As a nation, we owe a debt of gratitude that spans generations.

The coal age may be over, he said, but a new era of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning.

Thomas Edison's Edison Electric Light Station, the world's first coal-fired power plant, opened in London in 1882.

Opened in 1967, Ratcliffe-on-Soar station is a landmark, with its eight concrete cooling towers and 199-metre (653-foot) high chimneys seen by millions of people every year as they pass or speed by on the M1 motorway. On the train.

In 1990, coal supplied about 80% of Britain's electricity. Figures from National Grid show this proportion fell to 39% in 2012, and just 1% in 2023. Currently, more than half of the UK's electricity comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, with the remainder coming from natural gas and nuclear energy.

However, coal still remains a flammability issue.

Plans to build the first new coal mine in north-west England in 30 years have divided residents between those who welcome the promise of well-paying jobs and those who oppose pollution and carbon emissions.

But the UK’s net zero transition is transforming the country’s industrial landscape.

Separately, Britain's largest steelworks on Monday said it would cease production when its final blast furnace at Port Talbot in Wales closes after more than 100 years of steelmaking history.

The closure of Port Talbot, once Europe's largest steel plant, is the culmination of decades of decline for Britain's steel industry, which has struggled to compete with low-cost imports.

Nearly 2,000 jobs have been lost following the closure of a plant owned by Tata Steel in India. Tata plans to replace blast furnaces that use coal-derived coke with clean electric furnaces that emit less carbon and require less manpower.

At its peak in the 1960s, the Port Talbot steelworks employed more than 18,000 people, after which cheaper products began to be produced in China and other countries.

Community Union general secretary Roy Rickhuss said the closure marked the end of an era, but it was not the end for Port Talbot.

We will never stop fighting for the steel industry and the communities in South Wales,” he said.

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