Last blast for coal power at Eggborough

ONE of Britain’s largest coalfired power plants will shut down before the start of next winter after failing to clinch a crucial supply contract with National Grid.

The owners of Eggborough power plant in Yorkshire said it would not be economically viable for the 48-year-old site to keep generating electricity after its contract ends in September.

The closure threatens to wipe out as many as 300 jobs, and cuts the UK’S power-generating capacity by 5pc, or the equivalent amount of power needed by around two million homes.

Adam Booth, of Eggborough Power, said: “With the age of the plant and the current government’s policy that all UK coal-fired power generation must cease by 2025, Eggborough has been under threat of closure for the past few years.”

He said the plant’s management would work through a redundancy process with employee representatives. There are around 170 direct employees at Eggborough and the plant estimates a further 130 could eventually be affected, although some staff may stay on to undertake the winddown of the plant.

Eggborough has also applied to construct a new, cleaner, gas-fired power plant on the same site, which could replace the power currently made from coal by the early 2020s.