UK coal-fired plants to close

The government said it planned to close all unabated coal-fired power stations by 2025 and restrict their use by 2023.

Coal-fired plants currently account for nearly a third of the UK’s electricity, but much of the infrastructure is ageing, and the use of coal runs counter to tightening carbon reduction goals.

It cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK to be relying on polluting, carbon intensive 50-year-old coal-fired power stations.

Energy secretary Amber Rudd

“We are tackling a legacy of underinvestment and ageing power stations which we need to replace with alternatives that are reliable, good value for money, and help to reduce our emissions,” said Rudd.

Our dependence on coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, hasn’t been reduced, even with the huge growth in renewables, she added, with a higher proportion of our electricity derived from coal in 2014 than in 1999.

“It cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK to be relying on polluting, carbon intensive 50-year-old coal-fired power stations.”

To shift the balance, Rudd said nuclear and gas-fired plants would become central to the UK’s energy supply.

“In the next 10 years, it’s imperative that we get new gas-fired power stations built,” she said.

“The challenge, as with other low carbon technologies, is to deliver nuclear power which is low cost as well. Green energy must be cheap energy.”

However, many organisations fear this strong reliance on gas and nuclear may come at the expense of investment in renewable energy, with a substantial number of government subsidies that were originally created to encourage renewables investment, slashed in recent months.

Jenifer Baxter, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, welcomed the move to close traditional coal-fired plants, but was unconvinced that a heavy investment in nuclear and gas-fired power plants should come at the expense of safer and cleaner sources of energy.

“Although gas produces about half the amount of carbon emissions than coal, we should not look at building more gas power plants as a silver bullet solution to creating a secure, affordable and clean energy system. Increasing demand for natural gas will lead to other ‘difficult’ challenges in securing the gas network in the UK.  This may include more imports and potentially greater use of shale gas,” she said.

”Nuclear power generation has a role to play, as this does not generate any direct carbon emissions at all, but does require significant investment into the safe and environmental management of whole cycle of nuclear fuel.”

She said the UK should instead be seen as a nation leading the development of a low carbon energy system, which would require funding the research & development of next-generation renewables and other low carbon energy.

“Although today’s announcement provides some clarity for investors, there is still no clear roadmap for how the UK will meet its ambitious carbon reduction targets especially leading up to United Nations meeting on Climate Change (COP21) in December,” said Baxter.

”The cheapest options for energy still remain the options that produce carbon emissions, like gas. The unfortunate reality is that by reducing spending, due to public sector cuts, it is likely to mean increasing emissions.”

She warned that if we allowed the market alone to drive our future energy options, we could end up with ”the worst case scenario in terms of pollution”.