With the closure of the last coal-fired power station in the UK, it raises questions about how old fossil fuel infrastructure can be repurposed. One option is to use them to store energy from renewables.
It’s an unassuming place for a major era of British history to come to an end. Surrounded by farmland drenched by recent rains and trees with leaves starting to turn ahead of the autumn – all within earshot of the thundering traffic from the M1 motorway – the UK’s last coal-fired power station is shutting down for good. As of 30 September 2024 the turbines at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power plant in Nottinghamshire will fall silent while smoke and steam will cease to belch from the chimney and cooling towers that dominate this part of the landscape.
The power station, which has been operating since 1967, is to undergo a two-year decommissioning and demolition process.
It’s a symbolic moment, a marker along the UK’s journey to decarbonisation and net-zero. For centuries, coal was the main source of energy in the UK. It was the life-blood of the industrial revolution – providing the fuel for steam engines and then generating much of the country’s electricity. By the 1960s, nearly 90% of the UK’s electricity relied upon coal.
Now, for the first time, the UK will not use any coal to generate electricity.
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