Renewables account for almost half of Britain’s power generation

18/06/2024

Solar power generation hit a new high in the last quarter as renewables accounted for almost half of Britain’s energy production, according to a report from Montel Analytics. Despite bleak weather, the energy data analysts revealed that solar generation increased from 4.90TWh to 5.1TWh year-on-year, which was the highest level for any recent quarter. This helped renewables account for 47% of Britain’s power generation, with wind, biomass, and hydro all boosting clean energy output during the quarter, on 17.2TWh, 6.8TWh, and 1.1TWh, respectively. Overall power generation – excluding imports – fell by 17% from the previous three months to 54.6TWh, marking the lowest quarterly total since the second quarter of 2022. Phil Hewitt, director at Montel Analytics, said that the fall in demand was partly due to warmer weather and people and businesses becoming more conscious of limiting their energy costs. “Higher levels of net imports resulted in very low gas output, while gas prices increased steadily following a decline in the previous quarter," he continued. "This rise was driven by several factors, including escalating tensions in the Middle East affecting liquid nitrogen gas shipments, an earlier-than-expected stop in Russian gas flows to Austria, and reduced supplies from Norway due to maintenance at production facilities." It was a similar story for Europe as a whole, with a separate report from Montel Analytics also revealing record-high solar generation in the last quarter. Output totalled 86.2 TWh, representing a 15% increase year-on-year, while wind generation climbed to 107.6TWh, which was 9% higher than the same time in 2023. Fossil fuel generation totalled just 131.9TWh, which was the lowest quarterly aggregate on record and represented a drop of more than 24% when compared with the second quarter of last year. Both gas and coal saw falls of 27% and 28%, respectively, while lignite declined by 12%. “The biggest declines in gas-fired generation were observed in the UK, Italy, France and Germany,” said Jean-Paul Harreman, director at Montel Analytics. “Germany saw the biggest fall in coal output, while Poland, Italy, and the Netherlands also saw substantial decreases. The key drivers behind this trend include higher renewable generation and steady demand.” Image credit: Shutterstock