Coal Power Dies Where It Was Born as U.K. Shuts Down Last Plant

In 1882, England switched on the first-ever coal-burning power station, known as Holborn Viaduct or the Edison Electric Light Station. A mere 142 years later, the last such power plant will offer up its last electrons on Monday.

“This is the final chapter of a remarkably swift transition from the country that started the Industrial Revolution,” said Dave Jones, of the U.K.-based energy think tank Ember, in a press release from the Powering Past Coal Alliance. The Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired generating station is the last coal-burning plant in the U.K., meaning it is the first major economy to eliminate the dirtiest power source.

The U.K. set a 2025 target for phasing out coal power as part of its climate change targets, and it has delivered. This was a remarkable transition: in 2012, the country got 40 percent of its electricity from coal. By 2019, that number was two percent, and since then it has just been a matter of tidying up around the edges.

“The UK has proven that it is possible to phase out coal power at unprecedented speed,” said PPPA’s Julia Skorupska. “One third of all countries have committed to do the same when they joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance. Others will need to step up their efforts.”