Britain goes 24 hours without using any coal-generated power

National Grid confirmed that Britain had gone a full 24-hour cycle without using coal to produce any of the country's electricity, media reports said.

All electricity produced until late Friday night was generated from a mix of sources, but mainly gas fired and nuclear powered generating stations. Wind, biomass, and imported energy were also used on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

National Grid's Cordi O'Hara said: "To have the first working day without coal since the start of the industrial revolution is a watershed moment in how our energy system is changing.

"Britain benefits from highly diverse and flexible sources of electricity. Our energy mix continues to change and National Grid adapts system operation to embrace these changes."

The 24-hour cycle started Thursday when a coal fires power plant at West Burton went offline.

"The 24 hour cycle was confirmed at 22.50 hours on Friday, after which we started to use coal-fired generation again. We can't (tell) when this new record will be broken," O'Hara said.

Earlier this week, a new record was set on Thursday, when Britain went for 19 hours without using any coal-fired generation of electricity.

Britain's first public coal fire power plant opened in London in 1882 and since then coal has played a daily part in generating the country's electricity.

The British government aims to phase out Britain's last coal-fired power stations by 2025 in its program to cut carbon emissions.

In 2015 almost a quarter of Britain's electricity was supplied from coal-fire plants, but in 2016 this had dropped to just under 10 percent as more of the older coal fired stations closed.

--IANS

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