Flipping the switch on coal-fired generation in the UK
The site’s countdown to closure began in 2015 when the Government announced plans to end UK coal power generation, finally confirming the October 2024 end date in 2020.
In January 2024, all four of Ratcliffe’s 500MW units ran together for the last time. And, in June, the last delivery of coal by train arrived, carrying the final 1,650 tonnes shipment from the port of Immingham to the site, and the occasion was marked with a locomotive officially named ‘Ratcliffe Power Station’.
For its 170 Uniper employees the site was more than just a workplace.
Many have spent their entire careers here alongside friends, relatives and neighbours. Some have retired as the station closed, while most have stayed on for decommissioning.
Our investments in technical advancements and modifications over the years enabled Ratcliffe to seamlessly switch from delivering baseload power to more flexible power generation, responding to requests to generate power for the national grid, as and when needed. This and work to reduce the station’s environmental emissions enabled it to be the last coal plant standing in the UK.
Ratcliffe power station was the only coal-fired plant in the UK to be fitted with a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) emission control facility, capable of reducing NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions by 70-95%. It was also equipped with a Flue-Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) plant to remove sulphur dioxide (SO2) from the exhaust flue gases before they entered the atmosphere. With both SCR and FGD technology installed, Ratcliffe was able to meet the environmental standards in the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
On Monday 30 September at 15:35 Unit 4 was taken offline with the click of a computer mouse for the final time, marking the end of 140 years of coal-fired generation in the UK.
