The proportion of electricity generated from fossil fuel hit a two-year high in the second quarter of this year, according to new government figures.
The latest edition of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Energy Trends show that electricity demand in the second quarter of this year increased by 10.3 per cent, compared to the equivalent period in 2020 as non-domestic consumption rebounded.
Total generation increased by 7.8 per cent over the same period with imports over interconnectors making up the difference, it says.
Fossil fuel’s share of electricity generation rose to 43.4 per cent as demand for gas from power generation plants increased by 45 per cent.
At the same time, demand for domestic gas was up by more than quarter year on year, as average temperatures fell 2.0 degrees Celsius below the “exceptionally warm” temperatures seen in 2020.
Overall demand for gas, including industrial users, increased by 24 per cent year on year with imports up 31 per cent, the highest level recorded for the second quarter in seven years.
In addition, demand for coal by electricity generators doubled to 330,000 tonnes, compared to the same quarter last year, albeit from a low baseline following record periods without coal generation in Great Britain in 2020.
Overall, the level of fossil fuel generation increased by 36 per cent year on year in the second quarter.
The main spur for increased fossil fuel use was a 9.6 per cent fall in renewable generation due to less favourable conditions, particularly wind speeds, which were “substantially below” the average for the last ten years.
Generation from wind farms was down by 14 per cent with low wind speeds exacerbated by planned maintenance at several major plants. Solar PV and hydro-electric generation also fell due to less sunlight and lower rainfall.
Offshore wind’s share of total electricity generation was down from 10.9 per cent to 8.6 per cent, slipping behind bioenergy as the leading renewable technology.
This pushed renewables’ share of total generation down to 37.3 per cent, 7.2 per cent lower than in the second quarter of 2020.
Combined with a 3.9 per cent fall in nuclear electricity output due to outages, low-carbon generation’s share dropped to 53.1 per cent.
The growth rate of renewable capacity remains muted, with 134 MW added over the quarter, contributing to a growth of 1.4 per cent over the last twelve months. Just 135 MW of offshore wind was added in the last year, less than half the 281 MW of onshore capacity over the same period.