Thursday 31 October 2019

UK’s renewable generation soars by 39% year-on-year in third quarter of 2019

The UK's renewable generation soared by 39% in the third quarter of 2019, up from the same period the year before.

A new statistical release from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) shows this surge in clean energy was driven by strong growth from wind and hydropower.

However, it notes indigenous energy production rose by only 0.3%, as rises in oil, bioenergy, wind and hydro output were offset by falls in power generation from coal, gas, nuclear and solar.

Electricity generation by Major Power Producers fell 2.4% year-on-year, with the amount of coal power produced plummeting by 23% and gas-fired electricity dropping by 5.2%.

Despite these reductions, gas still provided 47.3% of electricity generation by Major Power Producers, followed by renewables at 31.7%, nuclear at 19.3% and coal at 1.0% - the low carbon share of electricity generated by Major Power Producers rose by 1.5% to 51%, whilst fossil fuel's share of electricity generation stood at 48.5%.

The report also notes that primary energy consumption in the UK on a fuel input basis fell by 1.9% and on a temperature adjusted basis consumption dropped by 1%.