French electric utility Électricité de France (EDF) has announced the shutdown of West Burton A power station, which has been generating coal-fired electricity for 57 years.
Located in North Nottinghamshire, the coal-fired power station has been serving since 1966.
It was operated with four 500MW units and generated a total of 491,792GWh of electricity, which is adequate to power 164 million houses for a year.
In June last year, EDF signed an agreement with National Grid ESO to extend the closure of two units at West Burton A power station by additional six months.
The agreement was signed in response to the UK government’s request to run the units through Winter 2022-2023, as an emergency standby option.
Pursuant to the agreement, the company is implementing decommissioning at the West Burton A site, removing oil and fuel from the plant and terminating any power connections.
The decommissioning is expected to be completed by December 2023, when the demolition contract partners will remove structures from the site until it is at ground level.
West Burton A generated the last electricity on 7 March 2023, with the remaining two units, 1 and 2 delivering the last of their power to Grid.
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) intends to build the country’s first-ever prototype fusion power station at the West Burton A site.
EDF stated: “The station and its workforce have fulfilled the request to have 400MW available through Winter 2022 to 2023 as an emergency standby option and from 1 April the whole station moved into full decommissioning.
“The coal-fired power station in North Nottinghamshire has been a terrific servant for UK plc since 1966 (57 years) it has supplied electricity and a great debt of gratitude is owed to all the people that have worked there over the years.
“This is an end of an era with the site handing over the legacy of generation to the power of the future.”
