Last UK Coal Power Station Closes

The United Kingdom will today close its last coal fired power plant. The closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station marks the end of the coal power era in the country, making the UK the first G7 nation and advanced, industrialised country to achieve this goal.

In 2012, the UK was still generating around 40% of its electricity from coal, but this has now dropped to zero in just 12 years. This is a major step out of fossil fuels for the UK, with oil and gas set to follow, and shows what can be done when there is cross-party consensus behind ambitious action to decarbonise the energy system.

Coal was not replaced with gas generation in the UK. Instead, huge increases in wind (up 315%), solar, and declining electricity demand filled the gap and has seen UK power sector emissions plummet by 74% since 2012.

Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel and rapidly eliminating coal fired power globally is critical to stopping climate change.

The UK has achieved this historic goal through a combination of policies to ban the building of new coal fired power stations that don’t employ expensive carbon capture technology, imposing carbon emission limits on existing coal fired power stations, increasing the cost of carbon pollution and rapidly building renewables capacity, especially offshore wind. As a result, coal has become uncompetitive, squeezed out by cheaper, cleaner energy.

The UK was the birthplace of coal power, with the world’s first coal fired power station set up in London in 1882. Coal drove the industrial revolution in the UK, but the country is now emerging as a world leader in building a clean power system, with the new Labour government committed to decarbonising the power system by 2030.

Ed Matthew, Campaigns Director at independent climate change think tank E3G, said: “The UK was the first country to build a coal fired power station. It is right that it is the first major economy to exit coal power.

“This is true global leadership, lighting the path for other countries to follow. The UK will now focus on rapidly eliminating unabated gas from its power system and oil from transport.

“The clean energy revolution is in full swing and the prize will be cheaper, more secure and less polluting power and a chance to end the climate crisis.”

Matt Webb, Associate Director of E3G’s Coal to Clean programme, also commented: “The birthplace of coal power is turning its back on coal forever. The UK has recognised that the future of energy is clean, not coal.

“Now it is time to build on this momentum and the years of work by civil society and platforms such as the Powering Past Coal Alliance to accelerate the global transition to clean energy, including through the UK’s proposed Global Clean Power Alliance.”

Global efforts to phase out coal are ongoing

The UK phase-out of coal power is part of a growing global shift. Since the Paris Agreement of 2015, there has been a 70% reduction in global planned coal capacity and the number of countries planning new coal has halved from 65 to 33.

This has largely been due to the plummeting cost of renewable energy which is now a cheaper alternative to coal in most markets. The cost of solar has plummeted by 90% since 2015, with the cost of offshore wind in the UK also falling by 70%. The European Commission and the G7 have all called for no new coal globally.

The UK and Canada founded the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) in 2017 to accelerate the global transition away from coal. With the secretariat hosted by E3G, it has grown to 181 national, sub-national and non-state actors committed to the phase-out of unabated coal power, including 24 out of 27 EU governments. On 17th September, David Lammy, the new UK Foreign Secretary, announced the UK’s intention to set up a global Clean Power Alliance, building on this success.

Julie Skorupska, Head of Secretariat of the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), said: “The UK has proven that it is possible to phase out coal power at unprecedented speed. One third of all countries have committed to do the same when they joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance.

“Others will need to step up their efforts – but they don’t have to do it alone. The PPCA brings together governments, financial institutions and companies to help countries phase out coal and reap the benefits of the clean energy transition. We need to see ambitious new commitments as countries develop their new NDCs.”

The Rt Hon Lord Deben, formerly the Chair of the Climate Change Committee summarised: “King Coal is dead. Long live his clean successors. This is the day we finally recognise that we can have power without it costing the Earth.”