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TIL there are no coal plants in the UK. How long has this been true?


The last coal power plant was shut down in late 2024. I remember checking the grid power stats before then and often seeing 0 MW of coal generated power.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o


Britain's last coal-fired power plant shuts down - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41734993 - October 2024 (95 comments)

UK to finish with coal power after 142 years - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41695587 - September 2024 (63 comments)

Britain's reliance on coal-fired power set to end after 140 years - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41443347 - September 2024 (70 comments)


There's a slight fudge: the largest coal plant, Drax, is still in operation - burning wood pellets imported from the US and Canada. In theory this is CO2-neutral. But it could go back to coal in an emergency with some enabling legislation.


How do they import these wood pellets? Is it fossil fuel powered ships? Is that factored in to the CO2 neutrality?





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