Britain completely coal-free for six days in Q3 2016: Drax
For the first time ever, just over 50% of all the UK's electricity came from low-carbon sources, and nearly six coal-free days were recorded, in Q3 2015, according to a report from energy firm Drax and Imperial College London. Nuclear power was the largest generator of low-carbon energy, providing 26% of all energy contributions while renewables accounted for 20%, with a six-fold increase in capacity to 26 GW from solar and power compared to six years ago, and biomass joining the list with 2 GW. The UK government plans to close British coal-fired power stations by 2025. 

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

More than half of the UK’s electricity has come from low-carbon sources for the first time, a new study has found.

The research from energy company Drax, which operates a biomass power station, found electricity from low-emission sources had peaked at 50.2 per cent between July and September.

It comes after the Government announced plans that would see Britain's coal-fired power stations probably close by 2025.

Climate change: It's "game over" for planet earth

Drax has launched a new quarterly report in collaboration with Imperial College London on trends in the UK energy market.

The first edition published today, showed that in the last quarter, for the first time ever, more than half of the UK’s electricity was generated from low-carbon sources including UK nuclear, imported French nuclear, biomass, hydro, wind and solar.

The report said: "Britain’s electricity was completely coal-free for nearly six days over the last quarter.

"Coal plants have been pushed off the system by competition from gas, nuclear and renewables. 5 May 2016 was a historic day, the first time since 1881 that Britain burnt no coal to produce its electricity.

In pictures: World Environment Day Show all 8 1 / 8 In pictures: World Environment Day In pictures: World Environment Day environment8.jpg In pictures: World Environment Day environment2.jpg In pictures: World Environment Day environment3.jpg In pictures: World Environment Day environment4.jpg In pictures: World Environment Day environment5.jpg In pictures: World Environment Day environment6.jpg In pictures: World Environment Day environment7.jpg In pictures: World Environment Day environment1.jpg

"Far from being a one-off, this has continued to become the norm over summer."

The UK’s low-emission electricity share has risen gradually from just 20 per cent in 2010. While electricity from high-carbon generation is expected to rise again during the high-demand winter months, experts believe the overall trend is clear.

Nuclear provided the largest share of the UK’s low-carbon generation, 26 per cent, in the third quarter of 2016. Renewables provided a further 20 per cent, spurred on by continued growth in capacity. Britain now has more than 26 GW of wind and solar installed, a six-fold increase on six years ago, while biomass has increased from nothing to 2 GW.

Britain imported seven per cent of its electricity in the quarter. Three-fifths came from France and the remainder from the Netherlands and Ireland, which are still predominantly powered by coal and gas.

The International Energy Agency called last year a "turning point" for the planet, as green energy accounted for more than half of new electricity capacity for the first time.

Ministers said last week that Britain's eight remaining "unabated" coal power stations will be forced to close in 2025 unless they can halve their carbon emissions. Some plants are expected to close regardless given that the process to install the technology to become "abated" is expensive.

The Government said it wanted to see an "orderly transition" away from unabated coal generation and launched a consultation on achieving it which will close in February.