The last coal-fired plant in Britain will close on Monday. This marks the end of 142 years when coal was used to generate electricity.
After more than 50 years of converting coal into electricity, the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in central England will finish its final shift around midnight. The U.K. Government hailed this closure as an important milestone in the effort to produce all of Britain’s electricity from renewable sources before 2030.
Peter O’Grady, the plant manager at O’Grady’s said that it was an “emotional day”.
He said: “When I began my career 36 years ago, no one imagined a future in which coal would not be generated within our lifetimes.”
With the shutdown, Britain is the first major economy in the Group of Seven to phase out coal, although other European nations such as Sweden and Belgium were there earlier.
Uniper, the owner of the company, says that many of its 170 employees will remain on for a decommissioning period lasting two years.
Michael Shanks, the Energy Minister, said that the closure of the coal plant “marks an end of an age, and coal workers should be proud of the work they have done to power our country for more than 140 years.” As a nation, we owe gratitude to generations.
He said, “The coal era may be over but a new era of good energy jobs is just beginning for our country.”
Thomas Edison’s Edison Electric Light Station opened in London, England in 1882. It was the world’s very first coal-fired power plant.
The landmark Ratcliffe-on-Soar opened in 1967. Its eight cooling towers are made of concrete and its 199-meter-high (650-foot-long) chimney is seen by millions every year, as they speed past on the M1 or drive by on trains.
In 1990, coal accounted for about 80% (or more) of Britain’s electrical generation. According to National Grid figures, by 2012, coal had dropped to 39% and by 2023, it was just 1%. In Britain, more than half of the electricity is now generated by renewable sources like wind and solar energy. The rest comes from natural gas or nuclear power.
Dhara Vyas is the deputy chief executive at Energy U.K.
Vyas stated that it was an amazing achievement to reach this point in just a decade when coal has been replaced with clean, low-carbon sources. As we strive to achieve more ambitious goals in the energy transformation, it is important to remember that back then few believed such a rapid change was possible.
Coal is a major source of civil unrest and also provides the nation with energy. In 1984, tens of thousands of miners protested against the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher over their plans to close 20 coal mines. The strike, which lasted for a whole year, divided the community and was marked by violence when police clashed against pickets. The eventual defeat of the miners helped to break the power of Britain’s trade unions and hastened the end of mining and communities that depended on it.
Coal is still a hot topic. The plans to open Britain’s new coal mine for 30 years in the northwest of England have divided residents. Some welcomed the promise of high-paying jobs, while others opposed the pollution and emissions that would result. The High Court ruled on Sept. 13, that the planning permission granted by the former Conservative government for 2022 was invalid.
The last blast furnace of one of the largest steelworks in the world, Port Talbot in Wales, closed on Monday, closing another chapter in Britain’s industrial heritage that burns carbon.
Tata Steel, an Indian company, will lose almost 2,000 jobs with this shutdown. Tata Steel plans to replace its blast furnace which uses coal derivatives coke with an electric furnace that emits less carbon dioxide and requires fewer workers.
Port Talbot Steelworks employed more than 18000 people at its peak in the 1960s, but production was cut back when cheaper steel from China and other nations began to replace it.
Roy Rickhuss said that the closure of Port Talbot “marks an end to an era but it is not the final end of Port Talbot.”
He said: “We won’t stop fighting to protect our steel industry and the communities of South Wales.”
