Britain's last coal-fired electricity plant is closing. It ends 142 years of coal power in the UK

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Britain’s last coal-fired power plant is closing

LONDON — Britain’s last coal-fired power plant is closing on Monday, ending 142 years of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution.

The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station in central England is finishing its final shift at midnight after more than half a century of turning coal into power. The U.K. government hailed the closure as a milestone in efforts to generate all of Britain’s energy from renewable sources by 2030.

Plant manager Peter O’Grady said it was “an emotional day.”

“When I started my career 36 years ago, none of us imaged a future without coal generation in our lifetimes,” he said.

The shutdown makes Britain the first country from the Group of Seven major economies to phase out coal — though some other European nations, including Sweden and Belgium, got there sooner.

Owner Uniper says many of the 170 remaining employees will stay on during a two-year decommissioning process.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the plant’s closure “marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of their work powering our country for over 140 years. 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,” he said.

The world’s first coal-fired electricity plant, Thomas Edison’s Edison Electric Light Station, opened in London in 1882.

Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which opened in 1967, is a landmark whose eight concrete cooling towers and 199-meter (650-foot) chimney are seen by millions of people a year as they drive past on the M1 highway or speed by on trains.

In 1990 coal provided about 80% of Britain’s electricity. By 2012 it had fallen to