The final remaining coal-fired power plant in the UK has been shut down, marking a significant milestone in the country’s transition away from coal-powered electricity, the energy source that fuelled its Industrial Revolution. Even as recently as 2012, coal was used to generate almost forty percent of the UK’s electricity. However, the shutdown of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar generation station in Nottingham this Monday means the country now generates zero percent of its electricity from coal.
Over this decade, there has been a notable rise in the prominence of renewable energy sources, alongside a concerted effort to decarbonise electricity generation. In particular, wind and solar power have jumped from 6 percent to 34 percent of the country’s electricity production. Furthermore, wind sources alone now have the capacity to power up to 92 percent of the UK’s 28 million residences.
Outlined plans by the UK government include a goal to eradicate carbon emissions from power production by 2030. To achieve this, there are plans to expand onshore wind power by two-fold, triple solar energy, and quadruple offshore wind power.
Since becoming the first nation globally to declare a planned withdrawal from coal power in 2015, the UK has been joined by 22 other countries within Europe, Ireland included. Moreover, all coal generation at Ireland’s only remaining coal-run facility, Moneypoint, will terminate by 2025 at the latest.
At present, 40 nations worldwide have pledged to end coal power production. China produces half the world’s coal electricity, with 1,161 active plants. Following behind are India and the US, with 285 and 204 plants respectively.
“There’s been an active effort to replace coal power in the UK with healthier, cheaper and more secure renewable alternatives,” stated Alexandru Mustață, a campaigner at Beyond Fossil Fuels. Other European countries continuing to burn coal should pay attention to this change, he suggested. “A secure and affordable transition to a power system based on renewables is well within reach given proper action against those causing pollution, along with an engaged society and political cooperation.”
As Dave Jones, Insights Director at global energy think tank Ember, pointed out, “The shift to renewable energy is not gradual but a revolution gaining momentum worldwide. Renewable energy is poised to soon surpass coal as the primary source of global electricity. The terms of industrial growth have changed, with clean energy now forming the cornerstone of numerous economies.”
Pieter de Pous, who spearheads E3G’s programme aimed at transitioning from coal to cleaner energy sources, stated that the UK, which pioneered coal use for power, is now leading the shift away from it. The UK joins an expanding collective of European nations such as Belgium, Sweden, Austria, and Portugal that no longer use coal.
“Using the same mix of incentives and penalties that got Britain to this groundbreaking point, Europe is steadily substituting coal and progressively fossil gas for renewable energy, making carbon-free energy feasible by 2035,” suggested de Pous.
He further urged European Union leadership to ally with the UK’s recently established Global Clean Power Alliance, to emphasise the shift towards low-carbon power as a critical aspect of the global energy strategy, which involves tripling renewable energy sources, increasing efficiency twofold, and moving away from fossil fuels.
Julia Skorupska, who leads the Powering Past Coal Alliance secretariat, lauded the UK’s rapid shift away from coal power as evidence that swift decarbonisation is achievable. “A third of all nations have pledged to follow suit after joining the alliance. More countries need to bolster their efforts, but they are not expected to go it alone,” she said.
This alliance unites governments, financial institutions, and businesses in an effort to aid countries in moving away from coal while benefitting from the transition to cleaner energy.
Nonetheless, coal’s shadow remains, as the UK continues to mine and sell coal overseas. In 2023, the carbon emissions from UK’s coal exports were approximately 1.8 million tonnes. Daniel Therkelsen, a campaign director at the Coal Action Network, emphasised the need for the UK to end its coal exports, stating: “If we can recognise the climatic and health imperatives of abandoning coal domestically, we should also cease exporting it abroad.”