The closure of the UK’s last coal-fired power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar is a huge moment for our energy industry – and for the broader history of a country that owes a significant proportion of its economic fortune to coal.
The world’s first coal-fired power station opens
Coal is already powering the industrial revolution when Thomas Edison opens the world’s first public power station in London. Coal will continue to provide the majority of our electricity for the next century.
The Great Smog strikes London
A series of lethal smog events across the capital results in the creation of early legislation in 1956 to address air pollution. This leads to the closure of Battersea Power Station and the site that is now Tate Modern.
Power stations scale up
Coal becomes central to the modernising grid as a new generation of megawatt-scale coal power stations is developed in the middle of the country, close to coal fields – especially in the Trent Valley and South Yorkshire (pictured: Eggborough). The grid is built to connect these central plants to major towns and cities.
Industrial action
Coal mining declined in the UK over decades, but most famously comes to a head in the 1984-85 miners’ strike. Communities are devastated as hundreds of thousands of jobs are lost.
As we progress towards Net Zero, we need to focus on achieving a just transition that doesn’t leave people and places behind.
The ‘dash for gas’
Following privatisation, a change in rules, and growing production in the North Sea, there is a massive expansion of gas power in the 1990s – overtaking coal in 1999.
The Emissions Trading Scheme
The EU introduces a first-of-a-kind carbon market to encourage heavy polluters to reduce their emissions.
The Climate Change Act
The UK commits to reducing carbon emissions to 80% of their 1990 level by 2050. This requires phasing out coal.
Drax starts converting to biomass
Following trials of firing wood and coal together, some old coal power stations commit to fully converting to biomass.
Carbon Price Support
Coal is still not decisively cheaper than gas, so the Government introduces a top-up carbon price to encourage the market to shift away from coal.
Government commits to the end of coal by 2025
The Government gives itself a decade to complete the end of using coal to generate electricity.
Net Zero targets become law
The Climate Change Act target is tightened and the UK becomes the first major economy to commit to Net Zero by 2050.
Our longest coal-free period
With low demand during the pandemic and continued progress on the coal phaseout, the UK sets a record 67 days without the use of coal.
Phaseout bought forward
Marking the UK hosting COP26 in Glasgow, the Government announces that it is bringing the deadline for the coal phaseout forward to October 2024.
Winter support contracts
In response to the supply crunch following the invasion of Ukraine, the Government takes measures to keep coal power stations online to ensure the lights stay on.
Ratcliffe closes
In time for the deadline, the UK’s last coal power station closes on 30 September 2024. This marks the end to a century-and-a-half of coal powering Britain.
Images: CHUNYIP WONG, Mark Lowery, acilo, Nickbeer, kali9, cem celik, redmal, Teamjackson, Philip Silverman
