Britain plans to end 140 years of coal-fired power by 2025
BRITAIN will bring an end to more than 140 years of coal-fired power under new plans to phase out the fossil fuel by 2025. The Government has confirmed that its 2015 pledge to snuff out the power sector’s coal use within a decade will move ahead under a new rule that limits the “carbon-intensity” of power plants.
Unless coal plants are fitted with eye-wateringly expensive technology, which can trap and store carbon before it enters the atmosphere, they will be forced to close by October 2025.
Coal-fired power has already plummeted by 85pc in the past five years due to rising taxes on carbon emissions and the boom in renewable energy.
Britain used coal-fired power for just 2pc of the UK’S electricity mix last year, compared to 9pc in 2016 and 22pc in 2015. Meanwhile, low-carbon options such as renewable energy projects and nuclear power plants made up more than half of the electricity system.
Last year was also the first time since the industrial revolution that Britain used no coal-fired power at all over a 24-hour period. But despite the decline, government still risks missing its legally binding climate change targets.
The new plans will set an emission limit of up to 450 grams of CO2 for each kilowatt hour of electricity produced to squeeze out the six remaining coal plants.
The end of coal is likely to force a greater reliance on gas-fired power in the wake of a gas market spike that reignited fears the higher wholesale costs could derail small suppliers and raise bills for homes and businesses. The first casualty of Britain’s gas supply shock emerged this week after a small supply start-up said it would need to close due to tough energy market conditions.
The closure of Brighter World Energy comes just weeks after the gas market rocketed to five-year highs after a string of gas supply disruptions in the North Sea and Europe.
An emergency shutdown of the UK’S most important North Sea pipeline hit the markets amid technical issues in Norwegian waters. The next day a deadly explosion at a key European gas hub compounded fears and drove prices higher.
The energy minnow, set up a little more than a year ago, said it had made the “difficult decision” to shut the business because market conditions had made its “buy-to-give” business model unsustainable.
The supplier had hoped to set itself apart within the crowded energy supply market by promising to help install a solar-powered micro-grid in an African village for every 2,000 customers it signed up.
Senior industry sources have consistently warned that the market is vulnerable to dramatic energy price spikes, because small suppliers often offer rock-bottom energy prices without the financial backing to absorb a market shock.
Brighter World’s customers will be passed on to its partner company, Robin Hood Energy, a not-for-profit supplier, with no change to their contract terms or account balances. Brighter World will also waive any exit fees for those customers who would prefer to leave Robin Hood.