{"id":51689,"date":"2021-07-01T06:33:09","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T20:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=51689"},"modified":"2021-07-01T13:48:30","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T03:18:30","slug":"uk-coal-deadline-mb2059","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/uk-coal-deadline-mb2059\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Brings Forward Coal Power’s Use By Date"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Coal<\/p>\n

It’s official – the UK Government is set on bringing forward a deadline to phase out coal power entirely from Great Britain’s energy system.<\/p>\n

The new deadline will be October 2024 – a full year earlier. The Government says it will introduce new legislation to achieve this at the “earliest opportunity”. It’s likely this will occur before the COP26 Climate Summit to be held in Glasgow in early November as that would be a super thing to bring to the event’s show and tell.<\/p>\n

UK Energy and Climate Change Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced the new deadline yesterday, stating the UK was sending a clear signal to world that it’s leading the way in consigning coal power to the history books.<\/p>\n

“Coal powered the industrial revolution 200 years ago, but now is the time for radical action to completely eliminate this dirty fuel from our energy system,” said Minister Trevelyan<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Coal power is already laying bleeding in the gutter in Great Britain, and its exsanguination is almost complete.<\/p>\n

At the start of 2021, there were just three coal burning power stations still operating. So far this year, Drax has pulled the pin on commercial coal power generation at its two remaining coal units in North Yorkshire, although it still has some contracts for the winter that may come into play. West Burton in Nottinghamshire will be decommissioned from September next year \u2013 but only two of the four coal units are operational and just for meeting capacity market commitments.<\/p>\n

That leaves the 2MW Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, which really is a clunker – it commenced operations in 1963.<\/p>\n

Coal Power’s Demise And The Ascent Of Renewables<\/h2>\n

In 1950, coal power accounted for 97 per cent of all electricity generated in the UK. In 2012, its share had dropped to 40%. By 2019, it plummeted to just 5% and last year, 1.8%.<\/p>\n

The UK generated 43.1% of its electricity from renewable sources last year, made up of<\/p>\n