The United Kingdom will become the first G7 nation to stop coal-fired power generation as its last coal power plant will officially shut down on Monday. The Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in central England, owned by German energy giant Uniper, has been generating power since 1967. After its closure, the plant will be decommissioned over the next two years and then demolished. Uniper plans to redevelop the site into a zero-carbon technology and energy hub.
This closure marks the end of over 140 years of coal-powered electricity in the UK, a country that first launched a public coal-fired power station in 1882. Back in 2015, the UK government announced plans to close all coal power stations by 2025 to reduce carbon emissions, later moving up the deadline to 2024. In 2012, coal power accounted for nearly 40% of the UK's electricity supply, dropping to below 2% by 2019, and reaching zero this year.
A spokesperson for the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a coalition of governments and businesses dedicated to accelerating the global phase-out of coal, stated that the UK has been one of the fastest countries in the world to eliminate coal-fired power. Dave Jones, Global Insights Lead at energy think tank Ember, remarked that this represents the final chapter in a rapid transition for the nation that started the Industrial Revolution. Once synonymous with industrial growth, coal is now being replaced by clean energy sources driving economic development.
Earlier this year, the G7 committed to phasing out coal power in the first half of the 2030s. Italy aims to stop coal power by 2025, France by 2027, Canada by 2030, and Germany by 2038.
