Ratcliffe power station ‘a lovely place to work’

A young worker at Britain’s last coal-fired power station has been reflecting on the impact it has had.

Harry Atkinson, a 25-year-old a control instrumentation engineer, was 17 when he started working as an apprentice at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire.

He combines helping ensure the power plant keeps working with representing the people of Erewash in Derbyshire as deputy mayor.

“We’re doing something meaningful – you feel like what you’re doing is important,” he said.

The plant, which has been providing power for 57 years, will finally cease production on Tuesday as the UK moves to cleaner fuels.

As well as being one of the younger people at Ratcliffe, Harry became the youngest deputy mayor in Erewash Borough Council’s history in May.

“[I manage both jobs] with difficulty,” he joked. “No, I take a lot of annual leave off to fill the role. You just make it work.

“Whether I’m lucky or not, I don’t have a partner so there’s no-one at home complaining that I’m not there all the time.

“Most of the days it’s work and in the evening I’ll be doing deputy mayor stuff.”

Mr Atkinson has nothing but praise for the station and especially his colleagues.

His role as a control instrumentation engineer means “making the buttons work”.

He said: “So that’s so everything from meters and gas detectors, to everything that controls the plant really.

“I started here as an apprentice. I completed my four-year apprenticeship and then worked up the ranks to be an engineer.

“The people here are amazing. Coming to work you feel like you’re doing something useful and you’re keeping people’s lights on.

“We’re doing something meaningful – you feel like what you’re doing is important.”

He said the decommissioning had come around faster than expected.

“It’s come around so quickly,” he said.

“Working here for seven years, there’s mixed emotions. It’s a lovely place to work and I’m glad I’ve worked here.

“I’m excited that we’re going through an energy transition and there’s other industries out there, other technologies that we need to look towards, and I want to get involved with that.”