Great Britain heads for record coal-free period during lockdown

(The Guardian, 9 Jun 2020) England, Scotland and Wales on brink of two-month milestone, longest period since 1880s, says National Grid.

Great Britain will on Wednesday be able to celebrate not having generated any coal-powered electricity for two months – the longest period since the 1880s.

Great Britain, which introduced coal-powered electricity to the world in the 1880s, has run its electricity network without burning coal since midnight on 9 April, according to National Grid.

A collapse in energy demand because of the coronavirus lockdown and the sunniest May on record has enabled the country to increase its reliance on solar power and other renewable energy sources such as wind.

“The exact two-month mark is midnight tonight (00:00 on Wednesday 10 June), which will mark 61 days (or 1,464 hours) since the last coal generator came off the system,” a spokesman for National Grid’s Electricity System Operator said.

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The Guardian, 9 Jun 2020: Great Britain heads for record coal-free period during lockdown