Renewables generated more power than gas and coal amid record wind turbine performance
Renewables provided more power over the first three months of the year than gas and coal, according market specialist EnAppSys.
Its data, which was first reported in The Daily Telegraph, revealed wind turbines generated nearly as much electricity as gas-fired power stations over the same time period.
Wind turbines reported record levels of performance in the first quarter of the year, and accounted for almost 70 per cent of all generation from renewables, which includes hydropower and biomass.
Over the past three months, wind turbines generated 23.3 terawatt hours of power.
This is about 31 per cent of total demand, and beats the previous record of 23 terawatt hours at the start of 2020.
The growing prominence of wind power highlights the expansion of renewables in Britain’s electricity system, as the country pushes to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The performance is a strong rebound for the wind energy sector, which suffered significant lulls in power generation last winter amid 40-year lows in windy weather.
This resulted in wind power only generating 10.4 terawatt hours of power in the third quarter of 2021.
Wind power given key role in energy security strategy
The government unveiled its energy security strategy last week, amid ultra-high gas prices and fears over further market disruption following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Downing Street is now targeting a five-fold increase in offshore wind capacity from about 11 to 50 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.
It has also outlined ambitious targets for solar power, hydrogen and nuclear energy.
Efforts to cut carbon emissions from power generation has powered a huge growth in wind turbine developments in recent years.
There is now 25GW of capacity installed over land and in the seabed across the UK, compared to less than 5GW in 2008.
Renewable UK estimates as much as 86GW of wind power remains in various stages of development across the country.
One of the newest projects, Orsted’s giant Hornsea Two wind farm 55 miles off the Yorkshire coast, generated its first power in December.
It is expected to be fully operational this year.
Despite the ramp up in renewables, high gas and coal prices have resulted in record wholesale electricity prices.
This is because electricity prices are highly influenced by gas prices, which spiked to an eye-watering £8 per therm on March 7 after the UK and US sanctioned Russian energy supplies.
Gas prices remain historically high at £2.14 per therm – for context, prices were 43p this time last year.
This painful reality is now being felt in households across the UK, with a 54 per cent increase in the energy price cap at the start of April pushing average bills to £1,971 per year.
Cornwall Insight expects a further 33 per cent increase to nearly £2,600 per year in October.