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The UK Has No Coal-Fired Power Plants for the First Time in 142 Years

With Monday's closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar, coal is no longer being used to provide electricity in the UK.

The closure of the plant, which had a capacity of 2,000 megawatts, brought to an end to the history of the country's coal use, which started with the opening of the first coal-fired power station in 1882. But a number of factors combined to place coal in a long-term decline: the growth of natural-gas-powered plants and renewables, pollution controls, carbon pricing, and a government goal to hit net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The European Union, which included the UK at the time, instituted new rules to address acid rain, which raised the cost of coal plants.

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