A farewell to UK coal

A farewell to UK coal

Like in Australia, the electricity sector in the United Kingdom is seen a key driver towards lower emissions, leading the decarbonisation efforts to date.

While Australia is still grappling with the timetable for closure of its coal-fired power stations and its impact on the energy transition, the UK, a few years ago, firmly set its sights on October this year as the right time for all coal to exit its grid.

In another contrast with Australia, while coal played a dominant early role in the UK, by the 1990s, the size of the coal fleet represented less than 50 per cent of the UK’s total capacity (down from a peak of 97 per cent), as Britain began relying more heavily on gas. By 2020, it had fallen below 1930 levels, and last year, coal accounted for just 1.3 per cent of electricity generated[i], as three of the remaining four coal-fired power plants stopped operating. The steady reduction in coal plant generation is shown below (figure 1).

Figure 1: Share of electricity generation by fuel, 2015-2023

Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2024

At the end of this month, the last operational coal fired power station in the UK, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottingham, is set to close, after receiving its final coal delivery in June[ii]. The plant was first commissioned in 1967 and had four 500MW units. It is part of the portfolio of energy assets owned by Uniper, a German energy company. Uniper owns and operates seven UK power stations (including Ratcliffe), a fast-cycle gas storage facility and two high pressure gas pipelines. Uniper is intending to convert the coal plant site into a zero-carbon technology and energy hub[iii].   Decommissioning at the Ratcliffe plant is expected to start on 1 October, immediately after power production finishes, and take two years to complete.

The closure follows a 2021 review and decision by the UK Government to bring forward its commitment to phase-out unabated coal generation by a year to 1 October 2024. While no legislation was introduced, the government introduced emissions intensity limits that pushed coal plants out of the system.

The shift has also been supported by increased generation from renewables which reached a record 135.8TWh in 2023 and accounted for 46.4 per cent of generation in 2023.[iv]  Wind accounted for 28.2 per cent of electricity from renewables.

Gas remains a significant part of UK generation and last year accounted for 34.7 per cent of total generation while nuclear accounted for 13.9 per cent of generation. Interconnection with Europe also supports the move away from local coal generation and net imports hit a record 23.8TWh last year, with France the main supplier. In the first quarter this year, imports of electricity reached a new record high of 11.2TWh as imports from France reached a new high. UK net import dependency was 44.4 per cent for the quarter.

Emissions Standards

The Energy Act 2013 established an Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new fossil fuel power stations and there are two carbon emissions limits that apply to the UK’s Capacity Market to fossil-fuel generators, and a generator must meet at least one[v]:

• 550g of CO₂ of fossil fuel origin per kWh of electricity generated (“the Fossil Fuel Emissions Limit”); and
• 350 kg CO₂ of fossil fuel origin on average per year per installed kWe (“the Fossil Fuel Yearly Emissions Limit”).

One analyst estimated that for Ratcliffe-on-Soar to meet the yearly emissions limit, and assuming a typical thermal efficiency of about 35 per cent, the plant could only run for about 345 hours a year or 4 per cent of the time[vi].

The UK is also introducing even lower emissions intensity limit for the capacity market from 1 October 2034.

On 18 September 2017, following a consultation in November 2016, the government confirmed that it would proceed with action to regulate the closure of unabated coal power generation units in Great Britain by 1 October 2025.

The history of coal in the UK

In January 1882, the UK became the first country to generate electricity using coal, employing a 93kW turbine at Holborn Viaduct in London, designed by Thomas Edison. This pioneering use of coal quickly established it as the dominant fuel for electricity generation in the UK and by 1950, coal accounted for 97 per cent of the country's electricity supply. The rise of coal power led to the construction of large power plants in the 1960s and 70s, many of which set records for size and efficiency.

However, the Clean Air Act of 1956 began to shift the landscape. By the 1980s, coal's share of electricity generation had dropped to 70 per cent. This decline continued as gas-fired generation expanded rapidly, especially after the introduction of Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGTs). The "Dash for Gas" followed the 1990 privatisation of the UK's electricity industry, which, coupled with high interest rates and a drop in wholesale gas prices from North Sea discoveries, made large gas turbines more attractive than coal or nuclear plants.

In 1991, the UK's first wind farm, consisting of ten 400kW turbines, was established in Cornwall, marking the beginning of a new era in energy generation. The Interconnector Pipeline, which began operations in 1998, also linked the UK's gas network with mainland Europe's, boosting gas supply to the UK.

The growth of gas and the closure of coal plants led to coal-fired capacity falling below 50 per cent for the first time in the mid-1990s, dropping to 48 per cent by 1995 and to 38.2 per cent by 2000.[vii] While the 1990s saw gas capacity grow, the 2000s also witnessed a dramatic increase in non-thermal renewables like wind, wave, solar, and hydro, which surged from 1.9GW in 2000 to 41.3GW by 2020, driven largely by wind and solar technologies.

Figure 2: Installed energy generation by fuel, 1920 to 2020

Source: UK Electricity capacity and generation by fuel between 1920 and 2020, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

This growth in renewables and gas was spurred on following the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD), which aimed to reduced carbon emission throughout Europe by imposing limits of large emitters. This came into effect on January 1, 2008, with non-compliant plants being able to opt-out whereby they could operate for a further 20,000 houses until 2015 at which point they would have to close.

In 2013, the UK introduced a 'carbon price support' scheme to tax carbon dioxide emissions, further reducing coal usage. By 2016, the government set a target to phase out coal power by 2025, which was accelerated to 2024 in preparation for Cop26 in Glasgow[viii]. At the beginning of 2016, there was 12 operational coal-fired power stations across the UK.[ix] 

By 2019, coal production had plummeted to just 2 million tonnes annually—150 times less than its peak in 1913 and equivalent to levels last seen in the 1700s.

By 2023, only one coal-fired power station remained in operation: Ratcliffe-on-Soar. Its scheduled closure marks the final page in the UK’s era of coal.

[i] [i] Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2024 Chapter 5 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

[ii] Ratcliffe-on-Soar: Final fuel delivery is end of the line for coal (bbc.com)

[iii] United Kingdom | Uniper

[iv] DUKES 2024

[v] Electricity Capacity Market Fossil Fuel Emissions Verification Services | Lucideon

[vi] Contrary to popular belief, there is no statutory requirement for UK coal power stations to close next year - Watt-Logic

[vii] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/649c1bfd2caa3e00133e601b/UK_Electricity_capacity_and_generation_by_fuel_between_1920_and_2020.pdf

[viii] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/end-to-coal-power-brought-forward-to-october-2024#:~:text=On%2018%20September%202017%2C%20following,Britain%20by%201%20October%202025.

[ix] https://www.powerstations.uk/coal-countdown/