Gas remains the predominant source of power generation in the UK, however wind power is closing the gap.
Just under a third (32%) of electricity generated in 2023 came from gas, figures released by National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) reveal.
Despite remaining the largest fuel source for the year, the use of gas was the lowest it has been since 2015.
That is largely due to the uptick in wind generation, which accounted for 29.4% of the UK’s generation mix last year.
For context, gas generated 38.5% of the UK’s electricity in 2022, with wind making up 26.8%.
The record wind generated came on 21 December when 21.8GW was provided between 8am and 8:30am. The highest share of wind in the generation mix was on 19 November between 4:30am and 5am, at 69%.
The highest ever solar power generated in one day was also recorded last year, with almost 11GW of power generated from the power source on 20 April.
In total, solar generated 4.9% of the UK’s electricity needs.
Nuclear power accounted for more than 14% of generation, while biomass (5%), hydro (1.8%) and coal (1%) made up the rest of the power generated in the last year.
Some 10.7% of the UK’s electricity needs were met by imports in 2023. As reported by Utility Week earlier this month, the UK imports around twice as much electricity as it loses via the transmission and distribution networks.
Over the last 10 years, electricity losses in the UK have been almost double net imports (on average 27TWh lost versus 16TWh imported), analysis of government DUKES (Digest of UK Energy Statistics) figures show.