By Susanna Twidale and Nina Chestney
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government launched proposals on Wednesday on how it plans to end coal-fired power generation by 2025 without technology to capture carbon emissions.
"The government wants to see an orderly transition away from unabated coal generation and is clear that action will only be taken if there will be no risks to the security of our electricity supplies," the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said.
Coal-fired power plants provided around a quarter of the country's electricity last year, but the government plans to close these as a part of its efforts to meet climate targets.
The government said it could order all unabated coal plants to close by 2025, but that it could also restrict their use from 2023.
The consultation on the plans will be open until Feb.1 2017, BEIS said.
Britain hopes to replace some of the lost electricity generation with new renewable projects.
The government also reaffirmed plans to offer subsidies worth 730 million pounds annually to renewable projects over 15 years.
As a part of efforts to reform the country’s electricity market, the government has been changing the way it supports renewable energy by replacing direct subsidies with a contracts-for-difference (CfD) system.
Under the scheme, qualifying projects are guaranteed a minimum price for their electricity and renewable power generators bid for CfD contracts in a round of auctions.
BEIS said applications for the next round of CfD funding will open in April, and be worth 290 million pounds annually.