UK coal plants must close by 2025. Britain will stop burning coal for electricity within a decade and build a new fleet of gas power plants to keep the lights on

Amber Rudd, the energy secretary, has announced.
Unveiling a new energy strategy in a speech on Wednesday, Ms Rudd will say it is “perverse” that coal, the “dirtiest fossil fuel” is still such a major part of the UK’s energy system – providing 29pc of the UK’s electricity last year.

The country’s dozen remaining unabated coal-fired power stations must all close by 2025 at the latest, and will be restricted in their usage from 2023, she confirmed ahead of the speech. A consultation on the plans will be held in the spring.

“It cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK to be relying on polluting, carbon-intensive 50-year-old coal-fired power stations. Let me be clear: this is not the future,” Ms Rudd will say in her speech.

Coal in the UK, 1882-2025. 1st country to use coal for electricity will become the first major country to completely phase it out. Big news!

— Ben Caldecott (@bencaldecott) November 17, 2015

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/12001752/UK-coal-plants-must-close-by-2025-Amber-Rudd-to-announce.html