Electricity generation by the major power producers was down 2.4 per cent, with coal down 22 per cent and gas down 8.7 per cent for the three month period July to September 2017, according to energy production and consumption figures from the department for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) publihsed today (30 November).
Indigenous energy production also fell by 4.3 per cent, driven by low gas output in August.
Gas provided 45.6 per cent of electricity generation (by the major power producers), with nuclear at 28.2 per cent, renewables at 22.7 per cent, and coal at 3.4 per cent.
The low carbon share of electricity generation (by the major power producers) was up 4.0 percentage points to 50.9 per cent, which the research said was due to increased renewables generation.
Overall, primary energy consumption in the UK on a fuel input basis rose by 0.5 per cent, but on a temperature adjusted basis consumption fell by 0.1 per cent.
In figures published on the same day by BEIS, overall Feed-in Tariff (FIT)- scale deployment at the end of October 2017 was 6,216 MW (917,328 installations). This represented a 4 per cent increase in total FIT installed capacity and a 4 per cent increase in the number of installations compared to the same period in 2016.
Photovoltaics (PV) were responsible for 99 per cent of the increase in installations and 80 per cent of growth in capacity. The highest growth rate (from October 2016) was seen in Hydro (up 26 per cent to 213 MW) and Wind (up 4 per cent to 725 MW).
Provisionally, in October 2017, 10 MW of capacity was installed over 2,768 installations. Of this, 2,766 installations were sub-50 kW installations, totalling 9.9 MW. The remaining two installations, totalling 0.1 MW, were hydro schemes.
As of the end of October 2017, PV installations represented 80 per cent of total installed capacity (4,991 MW) and 99 per cent of the total number of installations (907,157). PV installations had increased rapidly at the start of the FIT tariff scheme. The rate of increase slowed after August 2012 following tariff reductions.
Sub-50 kW PV installations represented 67 per cent (3,359 MW) of total PV installed capacity and 99 per cent (900,768) of the total number of PV installations.
Wind was the second largest technology, representing 12 per cent of total installed capacity (725 MW) and 1 per cent of installations (7,908).
BEIS also published the latest smart meter installation figures today, which showed 8.6 million have now been installed into homes and businesses in Great Britain.