Britain will become the first G7 country to end coal-fired power generation on Monday, the 30th of September, when the last plant, Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar in central England, which has been in operation since 1968, closes, also ending more than 140 years of of coal power in the UK, report Reuters and the BBC.
The UK gave birth to coal-fired power generation and as of Monday became the first major economy to move away from it.
The world’s first coal-fired power station, the Holborn Viaduct Power Station, was built in London in 1882 by inventor Thomas Edison, which lit up the capital’s streets.
Coal dominated the UK’s electricity supply in the early 20th century but began to lose ground to gas in the 1990s. Despite this, coal still generated 39% of the UK’s electricity in 2012.
In 2015, the UK announced plans to close coal-fired power stations over the next decade as part of wider measures to meet its climate targets. At the time, almost 30% of the country’s electricity was generated from coal, but by last year this had fallen to just over 1%.
“The UK has shown that it is possible to move away from coal power at an unprecedented rate,” said Julia Skorupska, secretariat manager of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a group of around 60 governments working to phase out coal power.
Moving away from coal power has helped cut Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions, which have more than halved since 1990.
The UK, which aims to reach zero emissions by 2050, also plans to decarbonise its electricity sector by 2030, a goal that requires a sharp increase in renewable energy such as wind and solar.
“The coal era may be ending, but a new era of good energy jobs is just beginning for our country,” Energy Minister Michael Shanks said in a statement.
In 2010, renewables produced just 7% of the UK’s energy. By the first half of 2024, this had risen to over 50%, a new record.
Energy emissions account for around 75% of all greenhouse gas emissions and scientists stress that fossil fuel use must be reduced to meet the Paris climate targets.
In April, the G7 major industrialised countries agreed to move away from coal power in the first half of the next decade but gave some flexibility to countries that rely heavily on coal, which drew criticism from green groups.
Coal still accounts for more than 25% of Germany’s electricity and more than 30% of Japan’s.
Although coal is a highly polluting source of energy, it has the advantage of always being available, unlike wind and solar energy, which are limited by the weather.