Britain’s last coal-fired power plant of Ratcliffe-on-Soar is closing on Monday, ending 142 years of coal-generated electricity in the nation and marking UK the first of the Group of Seven (G7) to end coal production.

The UK government promised to fully achieve “clean” electricity by 2035 through wind, solar, and nuclear power.

Decommissioning will begin immediately after the closure, and it is expected to take two years to be replaced with a zero-carbon energy and technology park.

The power station – considered landmark of East Midlands – had been providing power for more than 55 years, since 1967 with total capacity of 2GW capable of producing power to more than two million homes.

In the early 20th century, coal was used to generate more than 95 percent of UK’s energy, however, yet last year it declined to one percent.

last Thursday, the government published surprising figures on renewable energy explaining the closure, saying that renewable energy saved 52 percent of the country’s supplies in the pas
t three months, while nuclear power raised that figure to 69 percent.

Although coal is an essential fuel in UK and has been generating electricity for decades, overtime the buildup of the coal causes climate change, as well as it contributed to air pollution; a major health problem in the UK with 29,000 and 43,000 deaths per year.

Ratcliffe-on-Soar’s current owner; Uniper, is an international energy company with activities in more than 40 countries. It operates seven power stations in the UK. One of the company’s targets is to reach carbon-neutrality by 2040.

Source: Kuwait News Agency