Climate crisis: Sweden closes last coal-fired power station two years ahead of schedule

Sweden has closed the country’s last coal-fired power station two years ahead of schedule.

The plant at Värtaverket, in Hjorthagen in eastern Stockholm, pictured in 2008.

It becomes the third European country to exit coal completely after Belgium closed its last coal power station in 2016, and Austria ended its final coal-fired energy operations earlier this month.

The plant at Värtaverket, in Hjorthagen in eastern Stockholm is owned by Stockholm Exergi, a company part owned by the City of Stockholm and which described the closure as “a milestone” for clean energy in Sweden.

The move will cut the CO2 emissions of the company by half, it said.

The Swedish capital is on track for its district heating to be produced entirely by renewable or recycled energy by 2030. District heating, which is used in many European cities, tends to provide higher efficiencies and less pollution than localised boilers in each dwelling. 

Read the story from the Independent by Harry Cockburn - “Climate crisis: Sweden closes last coal-fired power station two years ahead of schedule.”