Britain's last coal-fired electricity plant is closing. It ends 142 years of coal power in the UK

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s last coal-fired power plant is closing on Monday, ending 142 years of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution.

The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station in central England is finishing its final shift at midnight after more than half a century of turning coal into power. The U.K. government hailed the closure as a milestone in efforts to generate all of Britain’s energy from renewable sources by 2030.

Plant manager Peter O’Grady said it was “an emotional day.”

“When I started my career 36 years ago, none of us imaged a future without coal generation in our lifetimes,” he said.

The shutdown makes Britain the first country from the Group of Seven major economies to phase out coal — though some other European nations, including Sweden and Belgium, got there sooner.

Owner Uniper says many of the 170 remaining employees will stay on during a two-year decommissioning process.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the plant’s closure “marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of their work powering our country for over 140 years. We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country.”

“The era of coal might be ending, but a new age of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning,” he said.

The world’s first coal-fired electricity plant, Thomas Edison’s Edison Electric Light Station, opened in London in 1882.

Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which opened in 1967, is a landmark whose eight concrete cooling towers and 199-meter (650-foot) chimney are seen by millions of people a year as they drive past on the M1 highway or speed by on trains.

In 1990 coal provided about 80% of Britain’s electricity. By 2012 it had fallen to 39%, and by 2023 it stood at just 1%, according to figures from the National Grid. More than half of Britain’s electricity now comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, and the rest from natural gas and nuclear energy.

“Ten years ago, coal was the leading source of this country’s power — generating a third of our electricity,” said Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive of trade body Energy U.K.

“So, to get to this point just a decade later, with coal’s contribution replaced by clean and low carbon sources, is an incredible achievement," Vyas said. "As we aim for further ambitious targets in the energy transition, it’s worth remembering that few back then thought such a change at such a pace was possible.”

Coal has fueled civil strife as well as powering the country. Tens of thousands of miners walked out in 1984 over plans by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government to close more than 20 coal pits. The strike lasted a year, divided communities and saw widespread violence as police clashed with pickets. The miners’ eventual defeat helped break the power of Britain’s trade unions and hasten the end of the mining industry and the communities that relied on it.

Coal remains a combustible issue. Plans to open Britain’s first new coal mine in 30 years in northwest England divided residents, with some welcoming the promise of well-paid jobs and others opposing the pollution and carbon emissions it would bring. On Sept. 13 the High Court struck down planning permission for the mine that had been granted by the previous Conservative government in 2022.

Another chapter in Britain’s carbon-burning industrial heritage ends Monday with the closure of the last blast furnace at one of the world’s biggest steelworks, in Port Talbot, Wales.

Almost 2,000 jobs are being lost with the shutdown at the plant, owned by India’s Tata Steel. Tata plans to replace the blast furnace, which runs on the coal derivative coke, with a cleaner electric furnace that will emit less carbon and require fewer workers.

At its 1960s peak, more than 18,000 people were employed at the Port Talbot steelworks, before cheaper offerings from China and other countries hit production.

Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, said the closure “marks the end of an era, but this is not the end for Port Talbot."

“We will never stop fighting for our steel industry and our communities in South Wales,” he said.

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

General view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham, England, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The UK's last coal-fired power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, will close, marking the end of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment in a multistory building in central Beirut, killing three Palestinian militants, as Hezbollah's acting leader promised the group will fight on following the death of its long-time head Hassan Nasrallah.

The early Monday airstrike — the first to hit central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict — killed three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small, leftist faction. Videos showed ambulances and a crowd gathered near the building in a mainly Sunni district with a busy thoroughfare lined with shops.

Separately, an Israeli airstrike early Monday killed six people, including two sisters and a child, in central Gaza, Palestinian officials said.

In the past week, Israel has frequently targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence — including a major strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah — but had not hit locations near the city center.

Hezbollah's acting leader Naim Kassem said in a televised statement that if Israel decides to launch a ground offensive, the group’s fighters are ready — noting that the commanders killed have already been replaced.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 105 people were killed around the country in airstrikes on Sunday. Two strikes near the southern city of Sidon, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people, the ministry said. Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and wounded at least 47.

Lebanese media reported dozens of strikes in the central, eastern and western Bekaa and in the south, besides strikes on Beirut. Israel says it targets militants, but the strikes have hit buildings where civilians were living and the death toll was expected to rise.

Here is the latest:

DEIR -AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike killed six people, including two sisters and a child, in central Gaza.

The strike early Monday hit a family home in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Awda hospital, where the casualties were taken.

The dead include a man, his two daughters and a grandchild, according to the hospital records.

Earlier on Monday, an Israeli strike hit a house in the central town of Deir al-Balah, killing two children and their parents.

Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian casualties on Hamas because the militant group operates in residential areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 41,615 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. It does not distinguish between militants and civilians but says women and children make up a little more than half of the fatalities.

The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone over the country, with videos purportedly showing a surface-to-air missile striking it. The U.S. military did not immediately acknowledge losing any aircraft.

The claimed attack comes as the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip approaches. The Houthis have targeted ships traveling through the Red Sea over the war as U.S.-led airstrikes pound their positions in Yemen. That’s imperiled a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion of trade pass through it, as well as crucial shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and Yemen.

The Houthis also continue to launch missiles targeting Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes from the Israelis this weekend on the port city of Hodeida.

The Houthi-run broadcaster Al-Masirah claimed shooting down the MQ-9, hours after video footage circulated online showing the purported missile striking the aircraft over Yemen’s Saada province. A single image online also appeared to show wreckage of the drone, with pieces resembling that of an MQ-9.

BEIRUT — Hezbollah’s deputy leader vowed to continue fighting Israel and said the militant group was prepared for a long war after much of its top command was wiped out, including its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

In his first speech since Nasrallah was killed, Naim Kassem said in a televised statement Monday that if Israel decides to launch a ground offensive, Hezbollah fighters are ready to fight and defend Lebanon.

As deputy secretary-general, Naim Kassem now is the acting leader of Hezbollah until a replacement for Nasrallah is chosen.

Kassem added that despite the killing of Hezbollah’s top military commanders over the past months, Hezbollah is relying on new commanders.

“Israel was not able to affect our (military) capabilities,” Kassem said. “There are deputy commanders and there are replacements in case a commander is wounded in any post.”

PARIS — France has delivered 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon, including two mobile clinics that will be able to treat 1,000 seriously injured people currently in hospitals’ emergency wards across the country, according to a statement from the French Foreign Ministry on Monday.

French military aircraft also delivered critical supplies of medicine to Lebanese emergency, pediatric and general hospitals and clinics, which have been overwhelmed with thousands of injured people since Israel’s bombardment of the country began over a week ago.

During his visit to Beirut on Monday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Paris is also releasing 10 million euros ($11.1 million) in emergency humanitarian aid to support the work of local humanitarian organizations, particularly the Lebanese Red Cross.

“In the face of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, France stands by Lebanon and remains committed to protecting civilians,” the statement said.

Barrot is scheduled to meet with Lebanese leaders on Monday, including with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Army chief Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

BEIRUT — Lebanese officials have asked people who lost relatives in recent Israeli airstrikes to provide DNA samples to match with unidentified remains.

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces on Monday called on residents across the country to visit police stations with an identity card to give their samples. It said more than one person from each family should provide a sample, if possible.

A wave of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon have killed more than 1,030 people — including 156 women and 87 children — in less than two weeks, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press show the site of the Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The images, taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC, show the site just some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) northeast of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

The images show multi-story buildings at the site now cratered in the densely populated predominantly Shiite southern Beirut suburb known as Dahiyeh.

Israel said the Friday night strike targeted a meeting at an underground Hezbollah compound located beneath the towers and at least one empty lot at the site.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike early Monday killed a family of four in central Gaza.

The strike hit a house in the central town of Deir al-Balah, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

The dead included two children and their parents, according to hospital records. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies at the hospital morgue.

Israel says it only targets militants and accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians, putting them in danger. It rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

BEIRUT — The Palestinian militant group Hamas says one of its commanders has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.

Fatah Sharif was killed early Monday in an airstrike on the Al-Buss refugee camp in the southern port city of Tyre, the group said in a statement. His wife, son and daughter were also killed in the strike, it said.

Sharif was a commander in Lebanon and a member of Hamas’ command outside the Palestinian territories, Hamas said.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, Israeli airstrikes have killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon.

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows the site of an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

A man passes by a damaged car where an Israeli airstrike hit a nearby building in Beirut, Lebanon, early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Damaged apartments, right, are seen in a building that was hit by Israeli strike, in Beirut, Lebanon, early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Damaged cars are parked in front of a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Yemenis stand in front of a portrait of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

A large fire and plume of smoke is visible in the port city of Hodeida, Yemen, on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, after Israeli strikes on the Houthi-controlled city. (AP Photo)

A Lebanese policeman looks at damaged apartments that were hit by Israeli strike early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People look up at a damaged building that was hit by Israeli strike early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People walk past damaged cars near a building hit by an Israeli airstrike early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Policemen and civil defense workers stand next to damaged cars near a building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Policemen and civil defense workers inspect a damaged car near a building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Women pass the damaged cars where an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Beirut early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A damaged apartment is seen on a building that was hit by Israeli strike, in Beirut early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Damages are seen on a building that was hit by Israeli strike, early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Lebanese soldier passes next to damaged cars where an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Beirut early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)