UK Renewables Generate Record Levels Of Electricity In 2018

https://cleantechnica.com/2019/03/29/uk-renewables-generate-record-levels-of-electricity-in-2018/

Provisional figures published by the UK Government on Thursday show that renewable energy sources generated a record amount of electricity in 2018, increasing by 11.8% over 2017 levels, led by a record year for wind energy generation which provided 17.1% of the UK’s electricity.

The UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published its quarterly “Energy Trends” reports this week revealing a host of findings from 2018 and the most recent months and quarters. Prime among the findings was total electricity generation across the UK in 2018 which fell by 1.4% from 2017 levels. Further, and even more importantly, coal, gas, and nuclear generation all saw declines in 2018 which were offset by increases in renewable energy generation — primarily from bioenergy, wind, and solar.

Specifically, while natural gas remains the leading form of electricity generation in the UK with 39.4%, renewable electricity generation increased to a record high of 33.3% thanks to a total renewable electricity capacity of 44.4 GW at the end of 2018, a 9.7% increase on 2017 which saw 3.9 GW added in 2018. Low-carbon generation (basically adding nuclear to renewables) also reached a record high of 52.8%.

Coal generation dropped to a record annual low of only 5%.

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