Britain’s last coal-fired power station will officially close as the “ambitious” energy transition comes into force

The last coal-fired power station in the UK will officially close today, ending almost 150 years of British coal power.

The plan to decommission the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station came after the then Conservative government announced in 2015 that it planned to close all coal-fired power stations in the UK by 2025 to reduce carbon emissions.

The local government began negotiating a plan to redevelop the site in 2021 and announced it in 2023. The station’s German owner, Uniper, later confirmed that all four units of the station would be closed by the end of September 2024.

At the start of the British summer, Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station delivered its final energy supply, supplying 1,650 tonnes of coal to 500,000 homes for eight hours.

Uniper’s statement to the ABC clarified that the station had been “operating as usual” until its closure, although no deliveries had been made.

Following closure, Ratcliffe-on-Soar will be dismantled “by the end of the decade,” according to Uniper.

A new development will take its place – a “carbon-free technology and energy hub”, according to the company.

The move makes the UK the first of the G7 countries to completely abandon coal-fired power and is a symbolic step towards the country’s goal of decarbonising electricity by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Italy plans to phase out its last coal-fired power plants by next year, France will follow in 2027, Canada in 2030 and Germany in 2038.

“End of an era” for British coal

Coal has played an important role in British economic history since the world’s first coal-fired power station was built in central London in 1882.

The design was attributed to Thomas Edison, three years after the invention of the electric light bulb.

Nothing remains of this station except the memory of the suffocating smog that it allowed to live on.

Construction of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station began in 1963. The plant became operational in 1967 and has dominated the East Midlands landscape in the 60 years since – twice the expected ‘life’ of a fossil fuel power station.

Uniper said this extension was due to “our investments in technical advances and modifications over the years,” including the shift “from providing baseload power to more flexible power generation.”

“This and efforts to reduce the plant’s environmental emissions have resulted in it being the last remaining coal-fired power station in the UK,” it said in a statement to the ABC.

At the main train station, which serves the nearby East Midlands Airport, the huge cooling towers appear to rise close to the tracks and platform.

Historian Hubert J. Pragnell once called the site “more of an interesting place than a beautiful place,” pointing to the “huge” chimney that rises 200 meters high and emits white smoke from the top.

Aside from being a politely veiled eyesore, the plant was known for being the first to be equipped with flue gas desulfurization technology – essentially a “washing plant” that removes the dangerous chemical sulfur dioxide from exhaust gases.

David Reynolds, a 74-year-old pensioner who saw the construction of the site, expected the dismantling would feel “strange” to those used to the sight.

“It’s always been there,” he said.

“When I was younger you could walk down certain parts and see nothing but coal mines.”

Ratcliffe-on-Soar had the potential to power more than 2 million homes, but has only been used during peak demand in recent years, including a cold snap in 2022 and a heatwave in 2023.

“It’s like the end of an era,” said local resident Becky.

Her father, who works at the power plant, would be unemployed, she said.

“It’s her life.”

The power plant employed 350 people before it was officially closed.

In a statement from Uniper to the ABC, it stressed that “every effort is being made to support colleagues in finding suitable opportunities for reintegration” elsewhere in the company.

The council also says the new development will create thousands of jobs.

In a 2023 statement following the announcement of Ratcliffe-on-Soar’s closure, then council leader Neil Clarke estimated that 7,000 people could be employed at the new site.

Power plant closure “just the first step” towards the energy transition

The UK’s energy transition has been decades in the making, with coal consumption seeing a sharp decline between the 1980s and today.

In the 1980s, over 70 percent of Britain’s electricity generation came from coal.

However, that share declined in the 1990s, falling to 38 percent in 2013, 5 percent in 2018 and then just 1 percent last year.

According to electricity operator National Grid ESO, natural gas accounted for a third of Britain’s electricity production last year, while a quarter came from wind power and 13 percent from nuclear power.

Jess Ralston, head of energy at the think tank Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, explained that the UK phased out coal “through a combination of economic and then regulatory considerations”.

“Larger power plants, such as coal-fired power plants, became subject to regulations because of the high levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and emissions coming from the plant, and that meant it was no longer economically attractive to invest in such plants,” she said.

The new Labor government launched its flagship green energy program after its election victory in July, setting up a public body to invest in offshore wind, tidal power and nuclear power.

Ms Ralston said the UK’s 2030 clean energy target was “very ambitious”.

“It sends a very strong signal that the UK sees climate change as a major issue and that this is just the first step,” she added.

When could Australia get by without coal?

Both major parties in Australia have outlined plans to phase out coal as part of the energy transition. The Australian Energy Market Operator reports that half of our coal-fired power stations have announced retirement dates before 2035 and all but one are scheduled to close by 2051.

However, the operator’s 2024 report predicts an even earlier closure, with the entire fleet expected to be decommissioned by 2040.

According to the report, the national electricity market must “triple its capacity” by 2050 to replace decommissioned coal-fired power plants and meet increasing demand.

It calls for “higher flexible gas capacities” while at the same time “very high penetration of renewable energies”.

Renewable energy supplies almost 40 percent of the national electricity market’s total energy in 2023.

On October 24, 2023, 72.1 percent of the National Electricity Market’s total electricity generation came from renewable sources – a new record for a 30-minute period.

However, the operator warns that challenges and risks are already emerging during Australia’s energy transition, including “unplanned outages of coal generators”, project delays and labor shortages.

“The possibility of no replacement energy being available when coal-fired power plants are decommissioned is real and growing, and a risk that must be avoided,” it said.

ABC/AFP