Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station - Credit: iStock
Historic moment for the UK, as the country's last remaining coal-fired power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar formally closes and starts two-year decommissioning process
The UK's last remaining coal-fired power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire officially closes today, kickstarting a two-year decommissioning process and marking the end of almost a century-and-a-half of coal power in the UK.
Located nine miles from Nottingham, the 2GW power plant was commissioned by the publicly owned Central Electricity Generating Board in 1968 and burned more than five million tonnes of coal a year for much of its operating life.
The closure of the last remaining coal power plants in the UK marks a historic moment in the transition to a decarbonised electricity system and the country's long term goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The move makes the UK the first G7 nation to stop using coal to generate power and builds on its position as the country that has delivered the deepest emissions reductions in the G20 since 1990.
However, the closure is also part of a growing trend globally, as industrialised nations shift away from carbon intensive coal power in favour of renewables, nuclear, and gas. The UK now joins a third of OECD nations in operating a "coal-free" power system.
"Today's closure at Ratcliffe marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of their work powering our country for over 140 years," said Minister for Energy Michael Shanks. "We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country.
"The era of coal might be ending, but a new age of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning. The government's clean energy superpower mission is about creating good jobs in wind power and new technologies like carbon capture and storage. That work is helping boost our energy security and independence, protecting families from international hikes in the price of fossil fuels and with it, creating jobs and tackling climate change."
Coal provided 80 per cent of the UK's electricity in 1990, and still commanded a 39 per cent share of the power mix as recently as 2012. But its role has rapidly declined following the introduction of the carbon floor price, which pushed up the cost of the most carbon intensive form of power, and the rapid roll out of increasingly cost competitive renewables projects.
Data from think tank Ember shows that coals share of UK power supply has been at two per cent or lower since 2019. Last year, coal provided just one per cent of electricity compared to 34.7 per cent from gas, 32.8 per cent from wind and solar, 11.6 per cent from bioenergy, and 13.8 per cent from nuclear.
"This is the final chapter of a remarkably swift transition from the country that started the Industrial Revolution," said Phil MacDonald, managing director at Ember.
While the UK's coal phase out was initially slated for 2025, then-prime minister Boris Johnson brought the date forward by a year at the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow. Labour also backed the earlier phase out date, as a part of its ambitious target to deliver a clean power system by 2030. The new government also confirmed in its 2024 manifesto that it would not grant new coal mining licenses in the UK.
"This is a British success story overseen by successive governments of different stripes," said Jess Ralston, Head of Energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). "There were those who warned of blackouts as coal disappeared from the power system, but their predictions of doom have been proven wrong again and again."
The closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar comes after the share of the UK's electricity generated from renewable sources hit a new quarterly record between April and June - accounting for 51.6 per cent of the grid over the three-month period according to new government data. The performance represents the third consecutive quarter when renewables have met more than half of UK power demand.
"Today, the expansion of renewables like offshore wind in UK waters is increasingly squeezing gas off the grid, which will help to stabilise prices and boost our energy security in the face of volatile international gas markets," added Ralston. "The phase out is a reminder that for all the country's current challenges, we can show leadership to the world and can cut not only our own domestic emissions, but by kickstarting industries like offshore wind help to cut carbon right around the world. The example the UK sets matters."
Green campaign groups welcomed the closure of the UK's last remaining coal-fired plant, hailing it as the end of more than 140 years of reliance on the fossil fuel.
"The closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station marks the end of a long era," said Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Tony Bosworth. "Coal was the backbone of the UK's power generation for over a century, but its place is now in the history books."
Greenpeace UK's policy director Dr Doug Parr declared the UK's exit from coal a tribute to so many in the climate movement who have campaigned for this moment for nearly 20 years, including those activists who in 2008 helped block plans for a new coal power plant at Kingsnorth in Kent.
"Just over a decade ago, coal made up nearly two-fifths of UK electricity generation but the rapid advance of renewables has made it obsolete," he said. "Britain has set an example the rest of the world must follow if we are to stop the devastation caused by the climate crisis and toxic air pollution. There are further battles to be had to phase out oil and gas, fulfilling the promise by all countries at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels."
However, both Parr and Bosworth stressed the need for the transition away from fossil fuels to be combined with proactive support for impacted communities and workers who could be left "economically stranded" unless there is a "just transition" that provides them with new skills and opportunities.
In the case of Ratcliffe-on-Soar, trade unions GMB, Prospect, and Unite worked closely with operator Uniper to manage the impact of closure on the site's 154 workers, delivering job transfer opportunities, a Peoples Hub' to function as an on-site job centre, flexible release and enhanced voluntary redundancy options, and fully-funded training as part of a transition plan.
"It's vital that the UK government plans ahead with serious investment in clean technologies, retraining for workers and a transition plan for every region," Parr added.
To mark the closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar, think tank Ember today released a report documenting the UK's journey from the Industrial Revolution to its position now as an emerging clean energy superpower. The UK's journey to a coal power phase-out flags how announcing a 2025 coal exit a decade ago, putting a price on carbon, enabling new offshore wind projects, wider market reforms to encourage renewables, and investment in the grid, as the five key factors that facilitated the UK's rapid transition away from coal power.
"The UK provided both the carrots and the sticks," said MacDonald. "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."
Ember's study adds that the rapid decline in coal power since 2012 avoided 880 million tonnes of emissions - equivalent to more than double the UK's total economy-wide emissions in 2023. It also calculated that replacing coal with wind and solar power avoided an estimated £2.9bn in costs.
Ember's analysis also shows that coal generation across the OECD peaked in 2007, and last year was down by 50 per cent on that peak. It added that the rapid growth in solar and wind was responsible for 87 per cent of the fall in coal generation during the period.
There are also emerging signs that coal plant utilisation rates and development pipelines across Asia, which has long been the main source of growth for the coal industry, are starting to contract, as more renewables and nuclear projects come online.
"Once, coal power was a byword for industrial growth," said MacDonald. "Now clean energy is driving economies - and not just in high-income countries, but throughout the world."
Keep up to date with all the latest green business news by signing up to the free Daily and Weekly BusinessGreen Newsletters.
