Soaring gas prices have forced the UK to nearly double its coal imports in the fight to keep the lights on.

An increasing use of coal-generated power comes after years of the country shifting to cleaner electricity from gas-fired power plants and renewables, but is deemed vital as Russian president Vladimir Putin crimps gas supplies to Europe.

The Sunday Times says that figures from Kpler, a commodity analytics firm, show that last month more than 560,000 tonnes of coal came into British ports, compared to 291,089 tonnes in October 2021.

In the first 10 months of this year, the UK imported more than 5.5million tonnes of coal - already exceeding the 4.2million tonnes throughout the whole of 2021.

Victor Katona, a senior analyst at Kpler, said that increased demand for coal is because of the rising price of wholesale gas.

"Absent the option of burning fuel oil, the most cost-efficient power generation option right now - coal - is very much the best option out there, albeit the most polluting one, too.

No-go zone

"With gas prices like these, relying on natural gas for power generation is a no-go zone for anyone who can switch between fuels."

Prices for gas increased rapidly since the invasion of Ukraine.

Most of the coal is arriving at the ports of Belfast and Immingham.

In its scramble for coal, the UK is importing from countries it has never traded with before. Mozambique had never sent coal to Britain before but was the second largest exporter of coal to the UK in September behind the US.

Environmental groups condemned the increased imports and said the UK had an opportunity to move away from pollutants.

Analysts said some of the imports will become storage ahead of the arrival of cold winter weather.

Worst-case scenario

Lou Roberts, research manager for the Coal Transition Team at E3G, told the Sunday Times that the UK has bolstered its coal stocks in case of a "worst-case scenario" of excess demand during a cold winter which would have usually been met by gas.

"This coal will only be burnt if there isn't enough wind or solar or gas supplies are running low.

"There might be one or two days during the winter that could require turning these coal power stations on, but that might not happen. So we might end up with this coal sitting there and not being burned."

Since the UK's "dash for gas" in the 1990s, coal's share of electricity generation has halved and there are now only three coal-fired plants running in Britain - all south of the border.

Tony Lodge, a political and energy analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies, said the UK's reliance on gas made it vulnerable to shocks.

He said: "Having to ask 50-year-old coal-fired power stations to stay on for another two to three years in the hope the energy crisis will go away is a sign of a failed national energy policy."

The disruption in energy markets from the war in Ukraine has delayed the UK's plan to end the use of coal power by 2024

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