I think the lede that this article buries is that this is the last coal fired power station in the UK. The UK has been burning coal since 1882 so that feels like quite a significant milestone.
> The UK has been burning coal since 1882 so that feels like quite a significant milestone.
The UK has been burning coal since the 13th century for heating so it's an even more significant milestone than that. There was a short ban because of the pollution it caused but otherwise the UK has been continuously burning coal since the late middle ages.
I recommend Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese. The history of coal in Britain is fascinating and closely intertwined with the birth of the industrial revolution, some of the first workers rights, etc.
As far as I could tell from a few minutes of googling the emergency stations were at West Burton, but both have been decommissioned as of 31st March this year.
...which can go from 0 to 1.7GW in seconds. The UK has long used hydro to help with the "tea kettle" effect every time the BBC was between programs or went to commercial.
No, this is it for coal. It's finished. And no, we won't be mothballing any coal power stations, it takes too long to spin up. Gas power plants are more efficient and cleaner, but these are also being phased out eventually.
The idea is to replace all the fossil fuel power plants with a mix of nuclear power stations, ideally 10 and lots of wind turbines and solar farms.
throwup238|1 year ago
The UK has been burning coal since the 13th century for heating so it's an even more significant milestone than that. There was a short ban because of the pollution it caused but otherwise the UK has been continuously burning coal since the late middle ages.
I recommend Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese. The history of coal in Britain is fascinating and closely intertwined with the birth of the industrial revolution, some of the first workers rights, etc.
dredmorbius|1 year ago
The Holborn Viaduct Power Plant, the first coal-fired electric power station in the UK, opened on 12 January 1882:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holborn_Viaduct_power_station>
Yes, UK / British coal consumption for other uses long predates the 19th century.
OJFord|1 year ago
bb123|1 year ago
Symbiote|1 year ago
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_coal-fired_powe...
KennyBlanken|1 year ago
Coal takes hours and is not suitable for grid stabilization.
Grid stabilization in the UK is largely provided by hydro like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinorwig_Power_Station
...which can go from 0 to 1.7GW in seconds. The UK has long used hydro to help with the "tea kettle" effect every time the BBC was between programs or went to commercial.
mrlonglong|1 year ago
The idea is to replace all the fossil fuel power plants with a mix of nuclear power stations, ideally 10 and lots of wind turbines and solar farms.