UK shuts down its last coal power station – Times of India

LONDON: Britain was the birthplace of coal power, the first country to build a coal-fired power station. It is now the first major economy to give it up.The last coal plant standing in the UK at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire finished operations at midnight on Monday after powering the UK since 1967.The UK will now no longer use coal to generate electricity — ending its 142-year reliance on the fossil fuel — marking a major milestone in the country’s journey to net zero.The first public coal-fired power station in the world opened at London’s Holborn Viaduct in 1882, built by Thomas Edison’s Edison Electric Light Company.“This will be the first time since 1882 that coal has not powered Great Britain,” said Michael Lewis, CEO of Düsseldorf-based international energy company Uniper, which owns Ratcliffe.Ratcliffe has been a pillar of the UK’s energy security for decades and its cooling towers are an iconic site in the region. Built during a time when coal was…