More than 30 per cent of the UK’s electricity was generated by renewables in the second quarter of the year, up 3.5 per cent from the same period last year.
The latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) show renewables’ share of generation was 35.5 per cent, a record for the second quarter of the year.
In total, renewable electricity generation was 27.1 TWh, an increase of 9.9 per cent on the 24.6 TWh on Q2 2018.
Furthermore renewable electricity capacity was 45.9 GW, a 7.9 per cent increase on a year earlier, and a 1.9 per cent increase on the previous quarter, with two thirds of the increase on last year’s capacity coming from wind.
Onshore wind generation rose by 13 per cent to 6.1 TWh while offshore wind increased even more (by 25 per cent) to 6.0 TWh which was still 30 per cent lower than the previous quarter when average wind speeds were much higher.
Plant biomass, namely wood pellets, saw the largest increase out of the other technologies with an 8.5 per cent increase to 6.0 TWh due increased capacity.
Meanwhile solar generation decreased 0.3 per cent as the small increase in capacity was offset by lower load factors.
When the Feed in Tariff (FiT) scheme closed at the end of 2019 Q there was 6.6 GW of FiT capacity installed across 986,000 installations. BEIS says this is subject to further revision.
Liquid biofuels consumption increased by 30 per cent, from 462 million litres in 2018 Q2 to 599 million litres in 2019 Q2, boosted by a 53 per cent increase in biodiesel consumption. Liquid biofuels represented 3.8 per cent of petrol and diesel consumed in road transport, unchanged from a year earlier.
In response to the results RenewableUK’s director of strategic communications, Luke Clark, said: “The latest official statistics show wind is leading the way in cleaning up the UK power system, with coal generation dropping to historic lows.
“This month’s landmark steps forward for offshore wind, with a record amount of new capacity secured at record low prices and a further round of development announced, means that we’ll see renewables reaching ever higher levels in the next ten years.
“Now is the time to push all of our renewable energy sources, including onshore wind and innovative tidal and floating offshore wind, so that we reach net zero emissions as quickly as possible.”