Speed & Scale The last coal plant shut down in England. Now what?
Sep 29, 2025
In this insightful discussion, Amol Phadke, a clean energy scientist from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, sheds light on the UK's recent closure of its last coal plant and the urgent challenge of replacing natural gas. He proposes an innovative 'Airbnb for the grid' model, suggesting that repurposing existing power plant interconnections can drastically enhance transmission capacity. Amol highlights the potential to host nearly 1,000 GW of renewables, offering a cost-effective path toward decarbonization that could reshape energy strategies for the future.
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How Activism Helped End UK Coal
- Bryony Worthington and Friends of the Earth campaigned to close the UK's coal stations by publishing reports and mobilizing locals.
- That activism helped drive the 2008 Climate Change Act and a national push away from coal.
Permitting And Transmission Are The Bottlenecks
- The UK struggles to scale renewables mainly due to slow permitting and insufficient transmission.
- Most UK projects wait five years or more just for interconnection approval.
Upgrade Wires To Double Capacity
- Existing transmission wires use century-old technology and limit current capacity.
- Rewiring with modern carbon-fiber-core cables can roughly double transmission capacity.