Scotland stops producing electricity from coal

The Longannet power plant, located north of the capital Edinburgh, has shut down the last of its four power units. It was the largest power plant in Europe when it started operating in 1970 and was capable of producing 2,400 megawatts of electricity for the national grid and powering over two million homes every year.

At the same time, the UK plans to close coal-fired power plants only by 2023 to comply with the new EU air quality rules, and Scotland has overtaken it. In addition, the Scottish government has set ambitious plans to meet 100 percent of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020.

Scottish energy strategy refuses to consider the use of new nuclear energy, conflicting with broader UK energy policy, although Scotland is part of the United Kingdom.