Britain generated more electricity from sunshine than from rain for the first time last year. Solar farms contributed 7.1 terawatt hours (TWh) of electrical energy, pipping the 6.84 TWh produced by hydro-electric stations, according to an annual study of electricity generation. Wind, however, beat both sun and hydro combined, generating 32.4 TWh – or 10 per cent of the nation’s entire electricity needs. Total generation by all forms of renewable energy including biomass came close to the levels of nuclear generation, while coal-fired power stations’ contribution hit a 64-year low. While wind farms were by far the biggest renewable energy provider, solar produced the biggest increase in production, more than doubling from 3.4 TWh in 2014. Developers rushed to get solar farms built to beat the deadline after which subsidies were slashed. Total consumption dropped 9 per cent over the past five years to 310.6 TWh because of energy efficiency measures and the closure of large industrial users. While only a modest contributor of the nation’s energy, hydro – the first British renewable – was responsible for 1.5 per cent of total generation as long ago as 1972.
Times 7th Jan 2016 read more »
Official data from National Grid shows that generation from renewable energy in the UK has continued to grow and could overtake levels of nuclear generation in 2016. While electricity generation from conventional and nuclear power plants still dominate in the UK, the growth in wind energy and solar power helped the renewables sector to reach a generation share of 21 per cent in 2015. With coal-fired and nuclear generation set to fall, generation from renewables will surpass that from the nuclear sector this year, says EnAppSys, which compiles the data. Wind farms provided the largest volume of renewable generation with 32 TWh, up 15 per cent from 2014, and set new weekly and monthly and quarterly records.
Modern Power Systems 7th Jan 2016 read more »