The UK electricity grid is poised to complete its first coal-free week since the Industrial Revolution, with the country completing 165 hours and counting without coal power.

National Grid Electricity Systems Operator (ESO) announced this morning that the last coal generator came offline at 13:24 hours on Wednesday May 1st, meaning the grid will complete a week without coal power at 13:24 this afternoon.

The company knows six hours in advance whether coal units will come online and as of this morning there were no coal plants scheduled to be used until at least 14:00 hours.

Fintan Slye, director of ESO, confirmed that as of 1.24pm today "we will reach over a week of no coal being used to operate the electricity system".

"While this is the first time this has happened, I predict it will become the 'new normal'," he added. "As more and more renewables come onto our energy system, coal-free runs like this are going to be a regular occurrence. We believe that by 2025 we will be able to fully operate Great Britain's electricity system with zero carbon."

The latest record was welcomed by Business Secretary Greg Clark, who hailed the performance as further evidence of the UK's world-leading decarbonisation record.

"Going a week without coal for the first time since the Industrial Revolution is a huge leap forward in our world-leading efforts to reduce emissions, but we're not stopping there," he said. "To combat climate change and seize on the opportunities of clean growth, we're phasing out coal entirely by 2025 and building a cleaner, greener energy system.

"We lead the world when it comes to tackling climate change and we want to carry on breaking records, which is why we've put foundations in place to allow our renewables sector to thrive."

He also again hinted that the government could soon introduce a net zero emissions target, declaring that "we're now on a path to become the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions".

The government is yet to confirm whether it will accept the recommendations of last week's landmark report from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and introduce a legally-binding goal to make the UK a net zerow emission economy by 2050. But a number of leading Ministers have hinted strongly that they are minded to do so and now regard the threat from climate change as constituting an "emergency".

Slye said wide-ranging work was on-going to ensure the grid can cope as coal power plants are phased out and reliance on gas power is also curbed as part of a net zero emission electricity network.

"Zero carbon operation of the electricity system by 2025 means a fundamental change to how our system was designed to operate - integrating newer technologies right across the system - from large scale off-shore wind to domestic scale solar panels to increased demand side participation, using new smart digital systems to manage and control the system in real-time," he said. "To help us reach today's significant milestone, we have been working with industry over the last few years to ensure the services we require to operate the network are not dependent on coal.

"We have been forecasting the closure of coal plant and reduced running for some time - due to us having to manage more renewables on the system. Transmission owners have invested in their networks accordingly and we have refined our operational strategies and real time operation of the network to ensure continued secure and economic operation."

He added that contrary to warnings from some commentators, more renewables could be brought online at the same time as grid operating costs are curbed.

"To reach zero carbon operation by 2025, we will continue to identify the systems, services and products we will require to run a zero-carbon network and design the new competitive marketplaces needed to source these as efficiently as possible from both new and existing companies," he said. "We believe that promoting competition will ultimately lead to better value for consumers. The new products and services we will introduce will help reduce the overall cost of operating the system, driving down costs for consumers.

"Operating a zero carbon electricity system in 2025, whenever there is sufficient renewable generation, is a major stepping stone to full decarbonisation of the entire electricity system. This will enable new technologies and removes barriers to ever increasing levels of renewables."

His comments were echoed by Dr Jonathan Marshall, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank, who said the latest record "further buries the notion that moving away from the most polluting fuels will see the lights go off".

"Outdated warnings that cutting carbon from our power system would lead to blackouts have been comprehensively proven to be incorrect. In fact, energy bills are falling and emissions are coming down while low-carbon generation continues to go from strength to strength," he said.

However, he also warned that if the government wants to accelerate emissions reductions from the power system at the lowest possible cost then further policy changes are required.

The government last week announced a modest increase in funding for the next round of offshore wind farm projects, but industry groups continue to argue the cost of deploying clean energy is being amplified by the government's refusal to let onshore wind and solar projects compete for price support contracts.

"To keep the records rolling in, the government needs to ensure that the low-carbon pipeline does not run dry," said Marshall. "A slowdown in solar installations and the grounding of new onshore wind capacity has put all of our eggs in the offshore wind basket. While the costs of offshore wind have plummeted, it is not sensible to rely on a single source of power. The government has itself admitted itself it needs to speed decarbonisation, so finding a way to boost onshore renewables and nuclear power generation should be an urgent priority."

The news also comes a week after the Renewable Energy Association (REA) stepped up warnings the solar sector could be hit hard by government proposals to increase the rate of VAT on solar panels and storage units from five per cent to 20 per cent, effectively excluding the technologies from the lower tax rate enjoyed by energy and energy-saving equipment.

"The proposed VAT rate hike hits the small-scale renewable energy industry hard during an already difficult landscape," said Frank Gordon, head of policy at the REA. "This change risks setting back the UK decarbonisation of homes and businesses in the UK by a number of years.

"Despite recent mass climate-related protests and the UK Parliament declaring a 'climate emergency', the government is again erecting a barrier to cutting emissions and increasing the costs for households who want to help. They are also failing to recognise the cumulative impact of withdrawing as many as 18 policy mechanisms that supported renewable energy deployment since 2015, which could leave the UK trailing behind on decarbonisation and clean growth."