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Rudd: Coal Power Stations To Close By 2025

Britain's final coal-fired power stations will disappear by about 2025, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary will announce later in a speech aimed at "resetting"‎ national energy policy.

Sky News has learnt that Amber Rudd will say that the closure of the remaining coal plants will take place in a decade, igniting a renewed debate‎ about whether the UK has sufficient capacity to keep the lights on.

Ms Rudd will tackle the issue of energy security head-on by confronting critics who argue that Government policy is dangerously incoherent and risks deterring international investors from committing crucial funds to new infrastructure.

"We now have an electricity system where no form of power generation, not even gas-fired power stations, can be built without government intervention," she will say.

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"And a legacy of ageing, often unreliable plant. Perversely,‎ the dirtiest fossil fuel, coal, remains a major part of the system.

"It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK to be relying on polluting, carbon-intensive, 50-year-old coal-fired power stations.

"Let me be clear: this is not the future. We need to build a new energy infrastructure fit for the 21st century."

The setting of a timetable for the closure of the UK's last-remaining coal-fired power stations will be a significant moment for the industry, sources said.

Coal plants produced nearly 30% of Britain's electricity last year, and executives say the Government will need to set a clear path to replacing that lost capacity if ministers are to avoid a crisis of confidence in the sector.

Closures of some power stations, such as SSE (LSE: SSE.L - news) 's Ferrybridge site - which is due to cease operating within months - has stoked concerns about whether ministers have a proper grip on the issue.

Industry insiders said the setting of a deadline would jeopardise essential investment in maintenance that may be required over the next 10 years.

Officials from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) refused to comment on the part of Ms Rudd's speech related to the closure date, which industry insiders said would be regarded as market-sensitive.

The Secretary of State will also mount a staunch defence of nuclear power, just weeks after ministers signed a multi-billion pound deal with China's president to build a new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point.

"We are dealing with a legacy of under-investment and with Hinkley Point C planning to start generating in the mid-2020s, this is already changing.

"Opponents of nuclear misread the science. It is safe and reliable."