The United Kingdom completed a full month without the use of coal power, hitting yet another sustainable milestone in 2020.
The National Grid ESO confirmed the UK had completed a full month without coal-fired power. This follows on from other milestones set this year such as the record for peak solar generation and fresh highs for wind generation.
The nation’s coal fired power plants have not been required according to the ESO’s tweet on Sunday, which confirmed that the nation had gone coal-free for 30 days, 7 hours and 36 minutes.
This run has continued, as of the posting of this article (2pm, 12-05-2020) and is forecast to be extended over the coming weeks due to healthy wind & solar levels, in addition to reduced demand - as a result the nation’s current lockdown.
The energy supplier and power plant operator. Drax also confirmed that low carbon energy sources have provided around 70% of the nation’s power during this coal-free period. However, gas-fired power made up the other 30% and remained the main energy source in the UK.
Find the daily energy mix, demand and emissions on our Power Generation Insights page.
The current pandemic has helped to show how reduced demand in the UK can result in a cleaner energy network and analysts believe this is a glimpse of things to come as the nation utilises low-carbon sources more and more.
The government has committed to phasing out the use of coal entirely by 2025 and the National Grid aims to operate a zero-emission grid from 2025, dependent on weather commissions.
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