VINACHEM

* Use to be restricted by 2023

The UK announced Wednesday plans to close all coal-fired power stations by 2025 and restrict their use by 2023, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

The announcement came ahead of a major speech on energy policy to be delivered later Wednesday by Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd.

"We are tackling a legacy of underinvestment and ageing power stations which we need to replace with alternatives that are reliable, good value for money, and help to reduce our emissions," Rudd said.

"We are tackling a legacy of underinvestment and ageing power stations which we need to replace with alternatives that are reliable, good value for money, and help to reduce our emissions."

"It cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK to be relying on polluting, carbon intensive 50-year-old coal-fired power stations," she said. "Let me be clear: this is not the future."

"We need to build a new energy infrastructure, fit for the 21st century," she said. "Our determination to cut carbon emissions as cost effectively as possible is crystal clear and this step will make us one of the first developed countries to commit to taking coal off our system."