List of active power stations
| Name | Location | Owner | Date commissioned | Planned closure date | Total capacity (GW) | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratcliffe on Soar | Nottinghamshire | Uniper | 1968 [16] | September 2024 [17] | 2.00 |  |
There is currently one active coal-fired power station operating in the United Kingdom, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire. [1] It has a total generating capacity of 2GW, however one unit has been put into a preservation state prior to the plants decommissioning thereby reducing the generating capacity to 1.5GW.
In November 2015, the UK Government announced that all the remaining fourteen coal-fired power stations would be closed by 2025. [2] In November 2017 the UK Government co-founded the Powering Past Coal Alliance. In June 2021, the government said it would end coal power by October 2024. [3] [4]
Ironbridge ceased operations in late 2015. In 2016, three power stations closed at Rugeley, Ferrybridge and Longannet. Eggborough closed in 2018 and was granted consent to convert into a gas fired power station. Lynemouth power station converted to biomass in 2018 and Uskmouth is being converted to an energy from waste plant. Cottam and Aberthaw shut down operations in 2019. [5] Fiddlers Ferry closed in 2020, [6] Drax stopped burning coal in March 2021 [7] and West Burton A and Kilroot ended generation in 2023. [8] [9]
The United Kingdom had continuously burned coal for the generation of electricity since the opening of Holborn Viaduct power station in 1882. On 21 April 2017, for the first time since 1882, the GB grid had a 24-hour period without any generation from coal power. [10] In May 2019 the GB grid went its first full week without any coal power. [11] In May 2020 the GB grid beat the previous record and did not use coal generation for over a month. [12]
At present, the use of coal power is decreasing to historic lows not seen since before the Industrial Revolution. Coal supplied just over 1% of UK electricity in 2023, [13] down from 30% in 2014. [14] In 2020, coal produced 4.4 TWh of electricity and Britain went 5,202 hours free from coal electricity generation, up from 3,665 hours in 2019 and 1,856 in 2018. [15]
| Name | Location | Owner | Date commissioned | Planned closure date | Total capacity (GW) | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratcliffe on Soar | Nottinghamshire | Uniper | 1968 [16] | September 2024 [17] | 2.00 | |
Drax power station is a large biomass power station in Drax, North Yorkshire, England, capable of co-firing petroleum coke. It has a 2.6 GW capacity for biomass and had a 1.29 GW capacity for coal that was retired in 2021. Its name comes from the nearby village of Drax. It is situated on the River Ouse between Selby and Goole. Its generating capacity of 3,906 megawatts (MW), which includes the shut down coal units, is the highest of any power station in the United Kingdom, providing about 6% of the United Kingdom's electricity supply.
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.
Fiddler's Ferry power station is a decommissioned coal fired power station located in Warrington, Cheshire, England. Opened in 1971, the station had a generating capacity of 1,989 megawatts and took water from the River Mersey. After privatisation in 1990, the station was operated by various companies, and from 2004 to 2022 by SSE Thermal. The power station closed on 31 March 2020. The site was acquired by Peel NRE in July 2022.
The National Grid is the high-voltage electric power transmission network serving Great Britain, connecting power stations and major substations, and ensuring that electricity generated anywhere on the grid can be used to satisfy demand elsewhere. The network serves the majority of Great Britain and some of the surrounding islands. It does not cover Northern Ireland, which is part of the Irish single electricity market.
Hartlepool nuclear power station is a nuclear power station situated on the northern bank of the mouth of the River Tees, 2.5 mi south of Hartlepool in County Durham, North East England. The station has a net electrical output of 1,185 megawatts, which is 2% of Great Britain's peak electricity demand of 60 GW. Electricity is produced through the use of two advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR). Hartlepool was only the third nuclear power station in the United Kingdom to use AGR technology. It was also the first nuclear power station to be built close to a major urban area.
This timeline outlines the key developments in the United Kingdom electricity industry from the start of electricity supplies in the 1870s to the present day. It identifies significant developments in technology for the generation, transmission and use of electricity; outlines developments in the structure of the industry including key organisations and facilities; and records the legislation and regulations that have governed the UK electricity industry.
The Ferrybridge power stations were a series of three coal-fired power stations on the River Aire near Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire, England, in operation from 1927 to 2016 on a site next to the junction of the M62 and A1(M) motorways.
EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF, with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the United Kingdom. It employs 11,717 people, and handles 5.22 million business and residential customer accounts.
Ballylumford power station "C" station is a natural-gas-fired power station in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK. With its main plant generating almost 700 megawatts of electricity, it is Northern Ireland's largest power station and provides half its power. Overall the station can produce 693 MW. The plant is located at the tip of the Islandmagee peninsula, which separates Larne Lough from the Irish Sea. The lough is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The 3 chimneys of the now decommissioned "B" station are 126 metres tall. East of the station is the Ballycronan More converter station, the Northern Ireland end of the Moyle Interconnector, a subsea HVDC interconnector connecting the NI electricity system to Great Britain.
Energy in the United Kingdom came mostly from fossil fuels in 2021. Total energy consumption in the United Kingdom was 142.0 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2019. In 2014, the UK had an energy consumption per capita of 2.78 tonnes of oil equivalent compared to a world average of 1.92 tonnes of oil equivalent. Demand for electricity in 2014 was 34.42 GW on average coming from a total electricity generation of 335.0 TWh.
The United Kingdom is the best location for wind power in Europe and one of the best in the world. The combination of long coastline, shallow water and strong winds make offshore wind unusually effective.
Drax is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Selby, best known today as the site of Drax power station. It was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1 April 1974, then part of the Selby District of North Yorkshire until 1 April 2023. The village primary school closed in 2017, though The Read School, an independent boarding school in the village has existed since 1667.
Drax Group plc, trading as Drax, is a power generation business. The principal downstream enterprises are based in the UK and include Drax Power Limited, which runs the biomass fuelled Drax power station, near Selby in North Yorkshire. The Group also runs an international biomass supply chain business. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Kilroot power station is a fossil fuel power plant on the north shore of Belfast Lough at Kilroot near Carrickfergus in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The plant currently has a 141 megawatt (MW) capacity from four standby Gas Turbines and a 10 MW battery energy storage capacity from the Kilroot Advancion Energy Storage Array.
Keadby Power Stations are a pair of natural gas-fired power stations near Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, built on the site of an older coal power station. The site lies near the B1392 and the River Trent, and the Scunthorpe-Grimsby railway. Also nearby is the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, which is part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation. The current stations are operated by SSE Thermal.
The National Grid covers most of mainland Great Britain and several of the surrounding islands, and there are interconnectors to Northern Ireland and to other European countries. Power is supplied to consumers at 230 volts AC with a frequency of 50 Hz. In 2023 about a third of electricity used in Britain was generated from fossil gas and two-thirds was low-carbon power. Wind generates the most low-carbon power, followed by nuclear some of which is imported from France. The government is aiming for greenhouse gas emissions from electricity in Britain to be net zero by 2035.
Megawatt Valley is a term applied to a geographic location which houses a large number of electricity generating stations. Historically in the United Kingdom this applied to the coal-fired power stations of the lower Trent Valley. In the mid-1980s, the valley's 13 facilities generated up to a quarter of the power demand for England and Wales. A shift to gas-fired power stations saw many of the Megawatt Valley facilities close down. The term was then associated with an area of Yorkshire centred on the River Aire that was home to Ferrybridge C, Eggborough and Drax power stations. Of these facilities only Drax remains in operation. In the United States the term has been applied to an area of West Virginia, home to five power stations.
Blackburn power stations are a series of electricity generating stations that have provided electric power to the town of Blackburn and the wider area from 1895 to the present. The first station in Jubilee Street, Blackburn began operating in 1895. A new larger station known as Blackburn East or Whitebirk power station was commissioned in 1921 and was rebuilt in stages over the period 1942 to 1955. Whitebirk station closed in 1976. The 60 MW Blackburn Mill Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station has generated electricity since 2002. The Blackburn energy from waste (EfW) plant is currently (2020) being planned.
