The UK’s last remaining coal-fired power station is entering its final days.
The plant at Ratcliffe-on Soar, Nottinghamshire, is a prominent landmark for rail passengers on the Midlands Main Line and the M1 passing nearby.
It started generating electricity 57 years ago – in 1967 – with a capacity of 2,000 megawatts, enough to power two million homes.
However, it will close on September 30 as part of government plans to end UK coal mining.
- Author, Simon Hare
- Role, BBC News, East Midlands
End for ‘King Coal’
Coal once dominated the East Midlands region with Ratcliffe Power Station at its heart.
However, just as coal mines have been closed, Britain’s last coal-fired power station will now cease production this autumn.
Coal is a fossil fuel and has produced electricity in Britain since the Industrial Revolution, but is now notorious for its environmental impact.
Burning coal releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Over time, the accumulation of these gases increased global temperatures by trapping additional energy in Earth’s atmosphere.
The European Union ranked Ratcliffe in 2008 as the 18th most polluting power station on the continent.
The UK has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
To help achieve this goal, the UK government has said it wants to achieve fully “clean” electricity by 2035 by rapidly increasing wind, solar and nuclear power.
At the turn of the 20th century, coal was used to generate more than 95% of the energy consumed in the UK. By 2023, this has dropped to just 1%.
What happened on the day of the last coal delivery?
In a landmark moment, GB Railfreight delivered what is likely to be the last shipment of coal from the power station on Friday 28 June.
A supply of 1,650 tonnes is enough coal to generate electricity for around 500,000 households for eight hours.
It is the latest batch of more than six million tonnes of coal transported to the site from the port of Immingham in Lincolnshire.
To mark the end of the line, operator GB Railfreight named the locomotive ‘Ratcliffe Power Station’.
The company claims each of its trains can carry the equivalent load of up to 129 trucks.
What will happen to the site of the power plant?
The plant’s owner – the international energy company Uniper – says it hopes the site could become a carbon-free technology and energy hub.
The firm already has its technology center in Ratcliffe-on-Soar, where it carries out research and development in the field of energy generation.
The site has a Local Development Order (LDO) in place, granted by Rushcliffe Borough Council in 2023.
The council said its decision to streamline the planning permission process could speed up development once the plant closes.
At the time, Neil Clarke, Conservative leader of the council, said the LDO could help create an estimated 7,000 jobs.
Uniper’s Mike Lockett said: “We are also exploring the potential for future on-site hydrogen production.”
How hard is it to shut down a power plant?
Decommissioning at the Ratcliffe power station will begin on October 1, immediately after the end of electricity generation, and will last for two years.
Uniper says 125 of its staff will remain in the operation to help with its closure.
Demolition of the cooling towers and the rest of the 655-acre site will not occur until decommissioning is complete.
The council said it would limit the amount of development until access roads are improved to ensure local roads can cope with the increased traffic.