UK to finish with coal power after 142 years

The United Kingdom has become the first major economy in the world to give up coal. On 30th September 2024, the UKs last coal power plant located in Ratcliffe-on-Soar finished operations after opening over 50 years ago in 1967¹.

A brief history of coal in the UK

For 142 years, this country has relied on coal to power its electricity. The Holborn Viaduct power station, the first coal-fired power station the world had ever seen, was built in the nation's capital by Thomas Edison in 1882. This innovation brought light to the city and from that moment forth, coal became established as a staple of British electricity, with almost all houses and businesses powered by coal¹.

Despite its position as the prime generator of electricity being challenged by gas in the early ‘90s, coal still remained important for UK energy into the new millennium and still produced 39% of the UK’s power as late as 2012¹.

A green future

As awareness around climate change and the impact of greenhouse gases grew, the UK began pushing back on coal and looking for other sources of energy. In 2008, the UK published their first legally binding climate targets. Then, in 2015, Amber Rudd, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary at the time, announced that the UK would end their use of coal within the next decade¹.

A major part of what made it possible for the UK to cut back on their use of coal was the upsurge in renewable energy and how quickly the green industry has grown. In 2010, renewable energy made up just 7% of the UKs power generation. Just 14 years later, renewable energy constitutes over 50%¹. This allowed the UK to experiment with short periods of being coal free before making the permanent plunge, with the first coal free day taking place in 2017.

In addition to moving the UK towards a greener future, this shift may also have helped motivate other countries to follow suit and think about making their own shift away from coal.

A better future for everyone

Moving away from coal isn’t good news for everyone. “The plant has always been running and we've always been doing our best to keep it operating” Chris Smith, who has been working at the plant for 28 years told the BBC. “It is a very sad moment"¹. Lord Deben, who worked under Margaret Thatcher's government when many coal mines were closed, suggests that the government needs to be mindful of ensuring new jobs associated with renewable energy go to the people who are disadvantaged by the changes¹.

Known as the dirtiest fossil fuel because it produces the most greenhouse gases of any fossil fuel when burned¹, eradicating the UKs reliance on and use of coal brings the United Kingdom closer to its goal of reducing the country's contribution to climate change.

Sources
1.    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o

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October 2024