Renewable energy generates record 29.8% of UK electricity as onshore and offshore wind costs forecast to keep on falling

The share of electricity generation in the UK from renewable energy sources reached a record 29.8 per cent in 2017 Q2, up 4.4 percentage points on the share in 2016 Q2, reflecting both increased wind capacity and wind speeds, as well as lower overall electricity generation.

According to BEIS data, renewable electricity generation was 22.5 TWh in 2017 Q2, an increase of 13.6 per cent on the 19.8 TWh in 2016 Q2, but 10.3 per cent lower than the peak quarterly generation of 2017 Q1 (25.0 TWh).

Onshore wind generation increased by 50 per cent (2.0 TWh), the highest increase across the technologies, to 6.0 TWh, while offshore wind rose by 22 per cent (0.7 TWh), to 4.0 TWh. Generation from biodegradable waste was up 30 per cent (0.2 TWh) to 0.8 TWh, due to much increased capacity.

Renewable electricity capacity was 38 GW at the end of 2017 Q2, a 13.2 per cent increase (4.4 GW) on a year earlier, and a 1.5 per cent (0.6 GW) increase on the previous quarter, with over half of the annual increase coming from onshore wind, and around one quarter from solar photovoltaics (driven by growth in 2017 Q1).

In 2017 Q2, just 39 MW of capacity eligible for the Feed in Tariff scheme was installed, increasing the total to 6.1 GW, across 905,000 installations.

Liquid biofuels consumption fell by 6.1 per cent, from 413 million litres in 2016 Q2 to 388 million litres in 2017 Q2, with a 13 per cent fall in biodiesel consumption. In 2017 Q2, liquid biofuels represented 3.2 per cent of petrol and diesel consumed in road transport, down from 3.4 per cent a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the UK should meet its 2030 renewables development objective thanks to their falling costs, according to a new report from Capgemini.

The consultants’ report also forecasts that onshore wind energy cost is expected to decrease by 26% by 2025, while offshore wind energy cost is expected to decrease by 35% by 2025.

10 Nov 2017