UK goes without coal power for two days

A windy Tuesday and Wednesday’s scorching sunshine enabled the UK to avoid coal power for a new record long period of just over two days.

The National Grid reported that no electricity was generated by coal power for two days in a row this week.

Analysis by Bloomberg showed the UK went for nearly 55 hours with no coal generation over Tuesday and Wednesday.

The National Grid statistics show wind produced 33.7 per cent of the 783 GW of electricity generated across Great Britain on Tuesday (17 April).

Then Wednesday saw solar and wind contribute 7.6 per cent and 25.1 per cent of the 779GW of electricity generated.

Energy and climate change minister Claire Perry described the lack of coal generation as “great progress” on Twitter.

Jonathan Marshall, energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, told Utility Week that the surging roll out of renewable capacity was undermining the argument that the UK required an increase in back up gas plants to make up for the phase out of coal power.

“We’re seeing renewables pick up the slack. When capacity is so big it can make a real dent in dispatchable generation.

“The whole coal fleet and a good proportion of the gas fleet is not being called into action which is really good for meeting carbon targets.”

“It is likely that the pace of change will increase and you will see more and more of these records being broken.”

Responding to the record coal-free period, James Thornton, chief executive of environmental campaigning law firm Client Earth, said: “The more coal-free days we see, the better it is for people’s health and for the climate.

“The UK has promised to be a world-leading example – it needs to continue powering past coal, investing in the right strategies and technologies to make the transition as easy as it can be.”

Renewables’ share of electricity generation reached a record 29.4 per cent in 2017, up 4.9 percentage points on the previous year’s figure of 24.5 per cent.

Renewable UK’s executive director Emma Pinchbeck, added: “This is another significant milestone. We’re witnessing a historic and exciting change to our power infrastructure. Renewables are now providing 30 per cent of the UK’s electricity – half of which comes from wind alone.

“As old-fashioned coal is phased out, modern technologies like wind are stepping up to make sure consumers have reliable energy without the damaging health impacts of coal pollution – as well as delivering for the UK economy.

“Globally, energy is shifting to renewables. International investors have seen the way the wind’s blowing, with more than £240 billion invested in clean energy last year and private companies divesting away from fossil fuels.”