UK grid runs for 14 days with no coal-fired generation, the longest stretch since the Industrial Revolution
Britain has completed an entire fortnight without any coal power, a record stretch that signals a historic milestone in the decarbonisation of the country's electricity grid.
As of 3.12pm, Britain's power grid has run without the assistance of any coal power plants for 14 days and counting, the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) confirmed.
Instead power is being supplied from a mix of renewables, gas, nuclear and interconnectors piping electricity from Europe. As recently as 2012 coal provided around 40 per cent of the UK power mix.
The 14-day streak radically outstrips the previous record of just over eight days without coal. Fintan Slyle, director of ESO, said the UK grid is decarbonising at an "astonishing" rate. "As we predicted when we first broke the record for a week of no coal generation at the start of the month, events such as today's will become the 'new normal'. As we move towards 2025, we believe that we will be able to operate Great Britain's electricity system with zero carbon generation."
With no coal plants generating, gas and renewables have stepped into the breach. On Friday morning gas was providing a quarter of the UK's electricity, followed by wind at 19 per cent, nuclear at 15 per cent, solar at nine per cent, and biomass at seven per cent. The remaining power was supplied via interconnector cables, storage and hydro.
"We are continuing to reap the rewards of investing in our thriving renewables sector," said acting Energy and Clean Growth Minister Chris Skidmore in reaction to the news. "The UK has the largest offshore wind capacity on the planet, can generate more than a quarter of our electricity needs from the sun and last year more than half of our electricity came from low carbon sources."
It marks the end of a remarkable month for the UK grid. May has seen three stretches where coal has been off the grid for more than 100 hours at a time, and overall logged more than 624 hours without coal - more than all of 2017.
Slyle also pointed out that Britain's solar record also tumbled this month, with one sunny day seeing solar provide more than a quarter of the UK's electricity needs. He said 2019 looks set to be the "greenest year to date", outstripping 2018's record performance.
Matthew Gray, senior analyst for utilities and power at Carbon Tracker, said the UK's coal-free performance demonstrates to other countries that it is possible to abandon coal power without crashing the economy.
"As the UK moves towards decarbonising the rest of its power mix while maintaining security of supply, it is showing how other nations can get off coal rapidly, in ways that avoid excessively compensating generators," he said. "Other nations - particularly those in the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) - can learn from the UK experience, not only on coal, but also how to decarbonise the rest of the grid in a way that is cost-effective."
RenewableUK's deputy chief executive Emma Pinchbeck cheered the news today, but warned attention must now turn to eradicating fossil fuel use across the rest of the economy. "We need to move from fossil fuels right across the economy to avoid the enormous risks of climate disruption and to benefit from modern, clean, technologies," she said.