The UK has marked a historic moment in its energy transition by shuttering the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station in Nottinghamshire, its last remaining coal power plant.
“This is the final chapter of a remarkably swift transition from the country that started the Industrial Revolution,” said Phil MacDonald, managing director of global energy think tank Ember.
The world’s first coal power plant opened in London in 1882, and as recently as 2012, coal powered 39% of the UK’s electricity supply. However, Ember’s data shows how this dropped rapidly in the following years, remaining at 2% or lower since 2019.
Ember’s report, “The UK’s journey to a coal power phase-out,” outlines the five key factors that facilitated the UK’s rapid exit from coal: announcing a 2025 coal exit a decade in advance, putting a price on carbon, backing offshore wind, market reforms to encourage renewable energy, and investing in the grid.
“The UK provided both the carrots and the sticks,” said Phil MacDonald, managing director of Ember. “It’s important to signal that polluting sources have an end date, but also to provide an enabling environment to build the new clean energy system.”
The UK predominantly replaced coal with wind and solar, without increasing reliance on gas. The country is now targeting a fully decarbonized power system by 2030.
The UK’s coal phase-out has brought many benefits, reducing both emissions and costs. The rapid decline in coal power since 2012 avoided 880 million tonnes of emissions, which is equivalent to more than double the UK’s total economy-wide emissions in 2023. Ember calculates that the replacement of coal with wind and solar avoided an estimated £2.9 billion in costs.
The UK’s last coal plant closure means that more than a third of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries are now coal-free, with three-quarters expected to eliminate coal power by 2030, aligning with global climate goals to limit warming to 1.5C.
Coal now accounts for just 17% of electricity generation in OECD countries, down from 36% at its peak in 2007. The rapid growth in solar and wind was responsible for 87% of the fall in coal during this period.
“Once, coal power was a byword for industrial growth,” continued Mr MacDonald. “Now clean energy is driving economies – and not just in high-income countries, but throughout the world.”
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