Great Britain is considered the birthplace of coal-fired power generation. Now the country is becoming the first large industrial country to become coal-free. There are reasons for the significantly earlier exit compared to Germany.
After more than 140 years, Britain is phasing out coal-fired power generation. The last coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, southwest of Nottingham, will close. This makes the United Kingdom the first wealthy industrial country to phase out coal, as highlighted by the Times newspaper, among others. The think tank E3G wrote a few days ago: “The birthplace of coal-fired power generation is about to become coal-free.”
The conservative government of then Prime Minister Boris Johnson brought forward the coal phase-out by another year in June 2021. In the future, only clean electricity will be used.
Britain aims to become a “clean energy superpower”.
The coal workers can be proud that they have powered the country for more than 140 years, said Energy State Secretary Michael Shanks from the Social Democratic Labor Party, which has been in government since the beginning of July. “The coal era may be ending, but a new era of good energy jobs is just beginning for our country.” These included wind power and new technologies such as CO2 capture and storage.
“This work helps strengthen our energy security and independence, protect families from international fossil fuel price increases, thereby creating jobs and combating climate change,” said Shanks. Britain should become “a clean energy superpower”.
Nuclear energy helps with an earlier coal phase-out
Just over 100 years ago, almost all electricity in Great Britain was generated by burning coal. Today, coal hardly plays a role anymore. In 2023, the share of the energy mix was 1.3 percent. Great Britain’s significantly earlier coal phase-out compared to Germany is also possible because the country continues to rely on nuclear power to generate energy. In Germany, the coal phase-out has been agreed for 2038. The traffic light had decided to “ideally” bring the date forward to 2030.
Since the first power station opened in 1882, Britain’s coal-fired power stations have burned a total of 4.6 billion tonnes of coal and emitted 10.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) – more than most countries have ever produced from any source, according to the climate portal Carbon Brief have.
“We are way ahead on coal,” British government climate advisor Chris Stark told the Times. “Way ahead of other G7 economies.” The boss of the power plant operator Uniper, Michael Lewis, told the paper that the end of Ratcliffe was “an enormously big deal – locally, nationally, internationally”. The plant was opened in 1968. In June a train brought the last delivery of 1,650 tons of coal.
Source: Stern
