UK Coal, Gas Production Declines in Q1

UK energy production was steady in the first quarter of 2019, but coal and gas production fell, according to a government report released June 27.

Total energy production grew by just 0.1% year on year, the government’s Energy Trends quarterly bulletin reports. Rises in oil and wind, solar and hydro output were offset by falls in coal, gas, nuclear and bioenergy and waste output.

Production of oil rose by 9.2% compared with the first quarter of 2018 as new fields that came online at the end of 2017 ramping up production. However, there was a 5.7% fall in gas production, linked to the closure of the Theddlethorpe terminal and lower flows from other terminals and the Frigg line to St Fergus.

Coal production fell by 8.5% compared with the first quarter in 2018 owing to falling demand, particularly for electricity generation.

Primary electricity output was 8.4% lower. Nuclear output fell 16% thanks to maintenance outages. Output from wind, solar and natural flow hydro grew 7.7%, mainly owing to more wind and solar capacity.

The UK’s final energy consumption fell by 7% in January-March. Net import dependency fell by 1.6 percentage points to 38.7%. Fossil fuel dependency was 80.7%, a fall of just 1.1 percentage points compared with Q1 2018. 

Consumption of coal and other solid fuels fell by 42% as demand fell from electricity generators. Natural gas consumption dropped 2.8% ; oil consumption rose by 1.8% .

Primary electricity consumption fell by 6.9% , despite rises of 8.6% from wind, solar and hydro and 13% from net imports.