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(Almost) no coal on the power system for a fortnight

The record first ever week of coal-free electricity generation in Great Britain – set in early May – has been trumped by the first ever fortnight without coal, which ended on 31 May. According to National Grid, this meant a coal-free GB for 336 hours.

Indeed, Britain enjoyed more coal-free hours in May (679) than it did for the whole of 2017 (624), according to trade association RenewableUK. The first ever coal-free day in modern times was in April 2017.

RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Emma Pinchbeck said: ‘Coal was the backbone of the last industrial revolution – but this old technology is being beaten by wind energy, the powerhouse of our 21st century economy. Renewables are providing well over a third of our electricity today, and this is just the beginning.’

But coal-free does not mean fossil-free – gas-fired power stations continue to supply more electricity into the system than any other source most of the time. Also, some coal-fired power was imported into Britain during the two week period, according to analysis by market data expert EnAppSys.

High carbon taxes in Britain were the key reason why Britain’s electricity system has run without coal for that two weeks, says EnAppSys, but these higher carbon taxes do not apply in neighbouring regions. And, over the two-week period of zero coal, Britain imported a small amount of electricity from coal-fired power stations operating abroad, the majority of this from the Netherlands where coal power stations continue to operate as a result of paying only half the carbon taxes paid within the UK.

News Item details


Journal title: Energy World

Countries: UK -

Organisation: RenewableUK|National Grid|EnAppSys

Subjects: Coal, Decarbonisation

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