UK’s last coal-fired power plant Ratcliffe shuts

Spanish Market: Coal, Electricity
30/09/24

The UK will shut its last hard coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, today as it becomes the first G7 nation to phase out thermal coal.

The 2GW plant in Nottinghamshire is owned and operated by German utility Uniper and will burn coal for the last time on 30 September. The plant was commissioned in 1967 with four 500MW units.

This marks the end of coal-fired generation in the country and is in line with government plans to halt the use of the fuel for electrification. The UK has been drastically cutting down its coal use in the power mix, from 39pc in 2012 to 2pc in 2020, according to the World Resources Institute.

Coal-fired output at Ratcliffe rose by 32pc on the year to 1.35TWh in the first half of 2024 and the plant generated about 220GWh more on the year at 310GWh in the second quarter.

The higher coal burn was probably a result of the plant running down its stocks ahead of its retirement. Ratcliffe received its last coal shipment, of 1,650t, on 28 June.

The site will be redeveloped after its closure. Uniper plans to use the site for its energy transition plans.

By Shreyashi Sanyal

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