Essay by Eric Worrall
Unless there is another cold snap like January 2024?
UK’s last coal-fired power station set to close
2 days ago
Alex Smith
BBC News, NottinghamThe closure of the UK’s last coal-fired power station has been described by officials as a “tremendously important milestone” in energy production.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire is due to shut early next week, with demolition of the site to follow after decommissioning, which is set to take two years.
The site – a landmark in the East Midlands – has been producing energy since 1967, enough to make more than one billion cups of tea per day.
Mike Lewis, CEO of the site’s owner Uniper, told the BBC the closure was a key step in the “global route to decarbonisation”.
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Mr Lewis, who confirmed plans for a clean energy technology park at the site, said the closure was a “tremendously important milestone in the global route to decarbonisation”.
When asked if a future with clean energy and no blackouts is possible, he said “absolutely”, adding that solutions are being worked on now.
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgn4gg5y2yo
Back in January this year, Ratcliffe was “ramped up” to deal with a cold snap and renewable shortfall;
Britain’s final coal power plant ramps up power as cold snap hits
15 January 2024 • 6:26pm
Britain is leaning on its final coal power plant for increased electricity supply as an Arctic blast hits the country.
Coal contributed its largest share of electricity generation on Monday since November, Energy Dashboard figures show.
Britain’s last active coal plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, helped generate 3.4pc of all electricity produced in the UK at the start of the week, well above average levels throughout the year.
It could be on course for its busiest week in at least a year, after contributing 2.3pc to electricity generation over the past week which is one of the highest levels in the past 12 months.
It comes as temperatures in the UK plummet and could go as low as -10 Celsius in the coming days. It is expected to lead to higher demand for electricity.
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Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/01/15/ftse-100-markets-latest-news-house-price-rise-live-updates/
Of course, nobody in Britain should be worried about winter blackouts – Britain’s Secretary of State for Net Zero Energy Security Ed Miliband apparently plans to heat homes in winter using solar farms and rooftop solar energy.
UK Government approves three major solar farms, promises rooftop solar ‘revolution’
The Department for Energy Security and Net-Zero (DESNZ) has granted planning permissions for the construction of three major solar farms in the east of England, in a bid to decarbonise UK’s electricity system by 2030.
Today (15 July), Energy Security and Net-Zero Secretary Ed Miliband has granted construction consent for Low Carbon’s Gate Burton Energy Park in Lincolnshire, Sunnica Energy Farm on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border, and Mallard Pass Solar Farm, which spans both sides of the East Coast Mainline in Lincolnshire and Rutland.
Sunnica and Gate Burton will each have a capacity of 500 megawatts (MW), while Mallard Pass will have a capacity of 350MW.
Together, their total capacity is approximately two-thirds of the 1.9 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy installed on rooftops and the ground last year, according to Solar Media.
The Government is shortly set to unveil plans to boost rooftop solar, as well as supporting these large ground-mounted projects.
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Read more: https://www.edie.net/uk-government-approves-three-major-solar-farms-promises-rooftop-solar-revolution/
Britain gets an average of around 62 sunny days per year (1500 hours), but obviously you’d have to be unlucky for a windless cold snap to occur during a period of low sunshine, like what happened last January. In any case, global warming is set to eliminate cold snaps in Britain. Any minute now.
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