The UK has just become the first G7 country to end coal-fired power production with the closure on 30 September of its last plant in England.

The closure of Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, near Nottingham in England’s Midlands ends over 140 years of coal power in the UK.

In 2015 the UK announced plans to close coal plants within the next decade as part of wider measures to reach its climate targets. While at that time, almost 30% of the country’s electricity came from coal, this figure had fallen to just over 1% last year.

The drop in coal power has helped cut the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, which have more than halved since 1990.

Coal power currently constitutes over 25% of Germany’s electricity and more than 30% of Japan’s.

Following closure, the Uniper site will go through a decommissioning process, which is expected to last around two years, before the site can be handed over to a demolition contractor.

Read Uniper’s account of the historic closure here.