Renewable Energy Overtakes Gas in UK Power

Renewable electricity generation was 28.8 TWh in Q3 2019, up 16% on the 24.7 TWh in Q3 2018, according to the most recent government statistics published March 12.

The share of total electricity generation from renewables – 38.9% – is the highest recorded and marginally exceeds the share of generation from gas for the first time, said the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

"The increase was largely due to increased load factors for wind as well as increased renewable capacity. Onshore wind generation rose by 24% (1.3 TWh) with offshore wind increasing by 43%, the highest increase across the technologies, to 7.2 TWh. For the first time, offshore wind generation exceeded onshore wind generation," it said.

Renewable electricity capacity was 46.9 GW at the end of 2019 Q3, a 7.2% increase (3.2 GW) on a year earlier, with more than half of the increase coming from offshore wind, and more than one quarter from onshore wind. 

NGW reported on the negative prices caused by excess electricity generated on sunny weekends, and the need for better technology to manage the market, in Q2 2018. Quoting Cornwall Insights, it said: “The Easter weekend has given us a glimpse into the future, as we move into a world with higher levels of embedded and intermittent sources of generation. With a large volume of wind farms set to commission under the contracts for difference scheme, we will see a higher requirement on the system for gas to act flexibly rather than generate baseload."