Great Britain’s longest coal-free run came to an end last night (5th June) after an impressive 18 days and 6 hours. This was announced by the National Grid ESO.
This is yet another achievement for the UK as it moves away from burning fossil fuels, which are a harm to the environment and a major contributing factor towards climate change.
The National Grid ESO tweeted:
Whilst coal power was forced to come on, it actually only provided a small percentage of the electricity for the UK, peaking at 1.06% of the total generation before then falling back down to zero.
As the country continues to generate it’s electricity via renewable energy sources, coal-free runs are predicted to be the norm in the future.
The current aim for the UK government is to close down all remaining coal-fired power stations by 2025, with the National Grid aiming aiming to operate a zero carbon power system from this time.
This comes following recent news that oil & gas are set to be out-priced by renewables by 2020.