Britain's last coal-fired power station to close after 142 years marking end of an era

Britain's last coal power station will cease operating at midnight tomorrow to mark the end of an era.

For the first time in 56 years, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire will not be producing electricity. Since 1967, it has produced enough energy to make more than one billion cups of tea per day. The power station employs about 350 people from Uniper, which runs the site, which has become a landmark. Decommissioning the plant will begin immediately after the closure, and it is expected to take two years.

The end of the plant will mark the end of Britain's centuries-long love affair with coal. The closure is also a big moment for generations of staff; some have worked there for almost half a century. It brings down the curtain on 142 years of the fuel that powered Britain's industrial revolution. "It's an enormously big deal: locally, nationally, internationally," said Michael Lewis, the chief executive of Uniper, which owns the plant.

From October 1, the UK will become the first major economy in the world to have phased out coal power. "It is a remarkable moment", said Chris Stark, the man who heads the new Government centre to deliver clean energy. "We are way ahead on coal, way ahead of other G7 economies."

In 1882, the world's first coal power station opened at Holborn Viaduct in London, bringing electricity to street lamps. For much of the next century, coal was the bedrock of electricity generation. It wasn't until Britain pioneered the use of nuclear power in the 1950s and, later, the "dash for gas" in the 1990s, that ensured other significant sources of electricity. The goal of Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, is to reach 100 per cent clean power by 2030, ending the use of gas as well as coal.

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