RWE to close its last U.K. coal plant in 2020
RWE to close its last U.K. coal plant in 2020 FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享The Guardian:The German utility giant RWE will close its last U.K. coal plant after the coming winter, leaving only four remaining coal plants powering British homes. RWE will close the Aberthaw B power station in south Wales at the end of March 2020 after half a century generating electricity from coal.The energy company, which runs one of the largest portfolios of gas power plants, said it had been clear for some time that the UK was a challenging market for coal generators. The UK used coal for less than 5% of its electricity last year, and went without coal-generated power altogether for over a week earlier this year, which was the longest coal-free period since the Industrial Revolution.Coal has been driven out of the electricity system due to rising taxes on carbon emissions, and will be banned by the government from 2025 to help the UK meet its climate targets.The shutdown of Aberthaw B comes after SSE said in June it would close the Fiddler’s Ferry coal plant near Warrington in Cheshire by the end of March 2020 because it cannot compete with the economics of gas and renewable energy.EDF Energy said in February that it would shutter the Cottam coal plant in September.The string of shutdowns means that by next spring just four coal plants will remain in the UK: the West Burton A and Ratcliffe-on-Soar plants in Nottinghamshire, Kilroot in Northern Ireland and two generation units at the Drax site in North Yorkshire, which are earmarked for conversion to burn gas.More: German utilities firm RWE to close its last UK coal plant in 2020