By Anders Lorenzen

When the Industrial Revolution emerged in the UK in the 1800s, coal was the driving force, and it became the first country to power its emerging industries on coal. 

While this put the UK at the global forefront and established it as the most advanced economy, it came with a price. The smoke and air pollution, the Great Smog, killed thousands of people over the years with respiratory illnesses. Then in modern times when climate change became widely known and accepted, coal was the key culprit.

And so, when the UK led the world in adopting coal, it has recently led the world in eradicating it from industrial usage.  Last week it became the first major economy to completely quit coal – announcing that the country’s very last coal plant was to close.

The end of 140 years of coal power

The German energy company, Uniper, which operates in 40 countries has announced the closure of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power plant. The power plant near Nottingham has been operating since 1967, but the 30th of September 2024 became its final day of operation and the end of over 140 years of coal power in the UK.

The closure of the power plant with a generating capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) has not been decided overnight.  A fazed shutdown began in 2015 when the UK government announced they would end coal power in the UK during the next decade.  

At the time coal accounted for almost 30% of the UK’s electricity generation. But for the past five years, coal has provided less than 5% of the UK’s electricity generation capacity. Recently, for some 24-hour periods, coal played no role at all, while last year it was just 1%.

Commenting on the closure, the CEO of Uniper, Michael Lewis said: “For me, Ratcliffe has always been more than just a power station—it has been a pillar of the UK’s energy security for decades. Built during a time when coal was the backbone of industrial progress, it played a crucial role in boosting economic growth and supporting the livelihoods of thousands of people. This will be the first time since 1882 that coal has not powered the UK.  The future is in cleaner and flexible energy and investing in technologies like CCS, Renewables and hydrogen.”

Ending coal in the UK is a key ingredient of the country’s target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and, by ramping up wind and solar capacity, to decarbonise electricity by 2030.

Michael Shanks, the UK’s Energy Minister said: “The era of coal might be ending, but a new age of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning.” 

As the UK waves goodbye to coal power, other major economies are struggling to do the same. In Japan and Germany, coal power still accounts for 30% and 25% respectively of electricity generation. In Germany’s case, their decision to decommission all its nuclear power plants has made the country much more reliant on coal.

Since the Labour Party won a landslide victory in the July general election they have wasted no time in removing blocking policies put in place by the previous government, which held back renewable energy projects.