Britain’s National Grid Electricity Systems Operator (ESO) issued a statement last week noting that Britain will not be able to rely on coal-fired electricity generation as a backup to its regular sources of energy this winter.

According to the statement by the ESO, coal plant operators Drax Group and EDF Energy, which made their coal-fired generators available last winter, have begun to decommission their facilities.

Their coal plants had been officially closed by the operators earlier this year, at the end of March.

A National Grid spokesperson said, “Both operators have confirmed that they will not be able to make their coal units available for a further winter and have begun the decommissioning process.”

The ESO added that Uniper’s Ratcliffe coal unit would likely still be able to be made available during next winter under a separate capacity market system.

During last winter, as Western Europe was suffering from an unprecedented energy crisis following a massive reduction in energy shipments from Russia, five contingency units were activated several times. Meanwhile, due to the withdrawal of Russian energy supplies and the resultant skyrocketing of energy prices, the region has been afflicted with record high inflation which set off a cost of living crisis in numerous countries within the bloc.

Last March the UK fired up the coal-fired contingency generators when a period of unusually cold weather interfered with the country’s wind generation capacity.

As the UK seeks to curb its carbon emissions, and meet the net-zero target its leaders have set for the nation, UK authorities have set in motion plans to close all coal-fired power plants by October 2024.