Green agenda unveiled
Just days ahead of Theresa May’s implementation plan on the environment next week, the government has announced that Britain will end its use of coal in power plants by 2025.
One of the UK’s eight remaining coal power stations is also expected to cease generating electricity this year.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) unveiled the plan today, saying it would set an emission limit of up to 450 grammes of CO2 for each kilowatt hour of electricity produced to make sure polluting plants close. The limit will allow thermal power plants that use lower-carbon gas to act as back-up generation, but coal plants will be forced to close unless they are fitted with carbon capture technology.
“Our assessment is that the Capacity Market will ensure that there is sufficient capacity in place to replace unabated coal units when they close,” BEIS said.
As part of its efforts to meet the country’s climate targets, Britain in 2015 announced it would end “unabated” coal-fired power generation by 2025.
Coal’s fall has been swift and dramatic, with power generation from the polluting fuel plunging by more than 80 per cent since 2012.
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