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Ecological transition: the last coal-fired power station in the United Kingdom has closed its doors
The United Kingdom turned the page on coal on Monday September 30, 2024. The country’s very last power station closed its doors at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in the north of the country. London wants to set an example and intends to become the first G7 country to no longer use carbon-based energies by 2050 to achieve carbon neutrality in 2030.
(France 2)
The United Kingdom turned the page on coal on Monday September 30, 2024. The country’s very last power station closed its doors at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in the north of the country. London wants to set an example and intends to become the first G7 country to no longer use carbon-based energies by 2050 to achieve carbon neutrality in 2030.
After 57 years of activity, the last remaining British coal-fired power station shut down on September 30. The United Kingdom thus becomes the first G7 country to completely do without coal. In Ratcliffe-on-Soar in central England, some residents can’t hold back their tears: “It’s going to change a lot. I’ve known her since I was 9 years old. I imagine it’s a bit like the Eiffel Tower. People will be lost without her”says a resident of the city. Since the closure of the last British mines, coal was imported from Australia and South Africa, a heresy for the residents of Ratcliffe-on-Soar.
The cleaver had been known for 8 years. The plant was already running for only a few days a year with reduced teams: “We were at one time the backbone of British electricity, running at full capacity, but in recent years we had drastically reduced activity”says the director of the plant. Today, coal is being replaced by natural gas and wind power.