UK ditches coal for first time since 1880s

london — The UK had its first full day without burning coal to make electricity since the Industrial Revolution more than a century ago, according to grid operator National Grid.

“Friday [April 21, 2017] was the first 24-hour period since the 1880s where Great Britain went without coal-fired power stations,” the National Grid control room said in a Twitter post confirming the achievement announced earlier.

The country is getting half of its electricity from gas power plants, 30 per cent from renewables and interconnectors and the remainder from nuclear plants, according to Duncan Burt, head of operate the system at National Grid.

The UK was an early adopter of renewable energy and has more offshore wind turbines installed than any other country, as well as fields of solar panels with as much capacity at seven nuclear reactors. The government aims to switch off all coal plants by 2025. “It’s really down to the growing levels of renewables,” Burt said. “We have solar and wind displacing traditional fossil fuels. We’ll start seeing these days more regularly, especially in June and July when it’s sunny.”

Neighbouring countries have similar agendas and energy companies across the continent closing and converting coal-burners at a record pace. Europe’s use of the most polluting fossil fuel is drying up quicker than many expected. “A decade ago, a day without coal would have been unimaginable, and in 10 years’ time our energy system will have radically transformed again,” Hannah Martin, head of energy at Greenpeace UK, said in an e-mail. — Bloomberg