170 jobs at risk following closure of West Burton A plant
Britain will have one power station still burning coal by the end of 2022 as EDF is set to reveal plans to close its West Burton A plant.
It is anticipated the French energy company will confirm in the coming days that it will close down the Nottinghamshire station by September 2022 after operating for over 50 years.
The plant’s 170 staff will soon be informed of the news as their jobs are now at risk while unions have been told.
Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant, also in Nottinghamshire, will now be the only power station still burning coal following the decision, ahead of the government deadline to phase out coal usage before the end of 2024.
The news is seen as a continuation of an area of success for the UK, particularly ahead of this year’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow to cease building coal plants.
While coal was Britain’s largest source of electricity in 2013, it fell below 2% by 2020. A number of old plants have been closed down following carbon taxes and subsidies to wind and solar plants.
Sue Ferns, from the Prospect union, commented on the treat to the worker’s jobs as well as viable solutions:
“The priority has to be enabling a just transition for dedicated workers into new jobs. We cannot allow the skills we have built up to go to waste, and we mustn’t abandon those communities where power stations have been big employers,” Ferns said.
