Milestone ·
The day coal power ended in Great Britain
On Monday 30 September 2024, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire made Great Britain’s last electricity from coal. It ended 142 years of coal power, which started at the Holborn Viaduct power station in London in 1882. Britain became the first G7 country to stop making electricity from coal.
142 years of coal power in Britain
- Last coal reading
- 15:35 BST
- 30 September 2024
- Coal on the last day
- 4.5 GWh
- 0.7% of the day’s generation
- Coal share in 2012
- 45%
- of generation
The last reading above zero was at 15:35 BST. Elexon FUELINST data, 5-minute readings.
From the largest source to none
In 2012, coal made 45% of the electricity generated in Great Britain, more than any other source. Average carbon intensity was 505 g/kWh.
The carbon price floor from 2013 made coal dearer than gas, and coal stations closed one after another. On 21 April 2017, Britain ran a full day without coal for the first time since the 1880s. In 2020, the grid went 68 whole days in a row without coal, from 10 April 2020 to 16 June 2020.
By 2024, coal was down to 0.7% of generation, and wind made 35%. Carbon intensity averaged 124 g/kWh, 75% lower than in 2012.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar, owned by Uniper, began generating in the late 1960s. Its four units could make about 2 GW. It was the last of the coal stations, and it closed on 30 September 2024.
See the full day on 30 September 2024, the coal-free runs, and 2025, the first full year without coal.
Year by year
Coal and wind, 2012 to 2025
The share of generation from coal (grey) and from wind (blue). Wind overtook coal in 2016.
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