UK to phase out coal power plants by 2025
The UK’s last coal power station will need to close by 2025, according to a government plan to phase-out coal power published on 9 November. The actual closure date, even without government action, is expected to be 2022. The government also confirmed £730m of support for renewable energy during this parliament, adding that bids for £290m annual support would open next April. Most of these bids are expected to be awarded to offshore wind farm developers who will receive £105/MWh of electricity for farms built in 2021, compared to £135/MWh for farms deployed in 2018.

Coal is the most carbon intensive fossil fuel, producing twice the level of carbon emissions as natural gas when used for power generation. It is clear that one of the biggest contributions we can make to reducing power sector emissions is to replace unabated coal power stations with lower-carbon forms of generation.

This consultation seeks stakeholder feedback on proposals to put into effect an end to unabated coal generation by 2025. It also tests proposals for a constraint on coal generation in the years ahead of that, in order to manage closures in an orderly way.

Setting requirements that will see an end to unabated coal generation in Great Britain by 2025 will provide the market with certainty and enable it to plan how to replace this capacity with lower-carbon forms of generation.