DECC renewables forecast falls ten per cent

Government expectations for UK renewable energy generation output in 2020 has fallen nearly ten per cent from last year. But lower overall projected demand keeps the forecast share for green power marginally down at 33.7 per cent.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in its latest annual projections for energy and emissions expects renewable output to double between now and 2020 to 108TWh. Last year DECC projected 120 per cent growth in green production over the same period. DECC said “changes to demand and to renewables generation over the period broadly offset each other.” The projections followed renewables industry forecasts that wind, wave and tidal power could create 70,000 new jobs in the coming decade. But the report from Renewable UK warned that without adequate certainty about future use of renewables their success could not be guaranteed. Last week the government’s climate change advisor warned that the administration’s ambition for offshore wind had waned. Since last year DECC has increased its anticipated output from gas-fired plant without carbon capture to increase by almost 11 per cent to 109.7 TWh by 2020 to make up 34.1 per cent of the UK total. Coal without CCS, DECC has forecast, will fall from a peak this year of 141.9TWh to 28.2 TWh – down from last year’s forecast of 39.9TWh – to account for 8.8 per cent of UK production. DECC 2020 projections for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in gas and coal plant are down 13 per cent from last year’s outlook at 4.7TWh. Its forecasts for nuclear remain virtually unchanged at just over 69TWh – about 21.5 per cent.