Britain marks two coal-free months during coronavirus lockdown as renewable use grows

Britain marks two coal-free months during coronavirus lockdown as renewable use grows

At midnight on Wednesday, Britain will have gone a full two months without burning coal to generate power, a record since the Industrial Revolution.

As Britain entered a coronavirus lockdown, the country's four remaining coal-fired plants were shut down, with the last coal generator coming off the system at midnight on 9 April, the BBC reports.

No coal has been burnt for electricity since, with the closure of businesses leading to periods of record low power demand.

The data does not apply to Northern Ireland, which is not part of the National Grid.

There is a coal plant there, in Kilroot.

It's a stark contrast compared to just a decade ago, when reportedly 40 percent of the country's electricity came from coal.

By last year that figure had reduced to 2.1 per cent, the Financial Times reported, while renewables’ share of generation had reached 36.9 per cent.

Today, the country has one of the biggest offshore wind industries in the world.

File footage seen here shows a sunrise panorama featuring three of Yorkshire's power stations with mist rising from St Aidan's Nature Park in the foreground: Drax, where coal generation will remain available until September 2022; Eggborough, a decommissioned coal-fired power station; and Ferrybridge power station.

Much of the plant at Drax has already been converted to burning wood pellets.