A combination of strong wind speeds over last weekend and unexpected shutdowns and repairs to gas-fired and nuclear plants has resulted in UK wind power hitting a new electricity generation record.
Wind power set a new record on Sunday, 19 October 2014 by providing 24% of the UK’s electricity supply for the entire day. The previous record stood at 22% of total generation in August this year.
The National Grid statistics – provided by independent data analysts EnAppSys – showed that wind power also set a new peak record of generating 7,998 megawatts (MW) over a 30-minute period at midday on Saturday, 18 October – once local turbines are factored in.
This is the equivalent of powering 17 million homes, based on average consumption in October.
A sudden drop off in gas power was caused by a fire at Didcot B power station, which has a capacity of up to 1,360MW, equivalent to the needs of a million homes. There are also four nuclear plants (nine reactors) currently shut down for to unexpected maintenance work and refuelling – which has temporarily removed 5,303MW of generating capacity from the system.
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