UK: Two Weeks Without Coal

The UK electricity system ran coal-free for 336 hours - or two weeks, as National Grid stated on 31 May: “We can now confirm that Great Britain’s electricity system will pass the fortnight mark for no coal generation this afternoon! The last coal generator came off the system at 3.12pm on 17th May – meaning we will achieve #coalfreefortnight at 3:12pm today!!”

The UK enjoyed more coal-free hours in May (679 hours) than it did for the whole of 2017 (624 hours).  

RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Emma Pinchbeck commented: “Coal was the backbone of the last industrial revolution – but this old technology is being beaten by wind energy, the powerhouse of our 21^st century economy. Renewables are providing well over a third of our electricity today, and this is just the beginning. 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. But the Government’s scientific advisors say that we can only achieve a net zero economy with a massive increase in renewable electricity to power the change. We need to act now to build on the coal phase-out and our world-leading renewables industry, including technologies like innovative wave and tidal power and fantastically cheap onshore wind".