The UK leads the so-called ‘dirty thirty’ league table in line with Germany, with both countries contributing nine coal-fired power plants to the list.
The Drax power plant in Yorkshire, which contributes around 7 per cent of the UK’s total generation, is ranked 6th in the league table, which was developed by environmental NGOs including the European Environmental Bureau and WWF.
In the top 20 Drax is joined by Eggborough (11), E.On’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar (13), EDF’s West Burton (14) and Cottam (18) plants.
The top 30 include Scottish Power’s Longannet plant (21) RWE’s Abbershaw (23), SSE’s Fiddler’s Ferry (24), and Ferrybridge (26).
“Germany and the UK are the self-declared climate champions of the EU. However, each of them has nine coal-fired power plants in the Dirty 30,” the report said.
“Germany uses more coal to generate electricity than any other EU country, while the UK comes third in absolute coal consumption for power after Poland.”
Other countries represented include Poland – home to the most polluting plant in EU – as well as Greece, Italy, Estonia , Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.