Electricity consumption falls to non-lockdown record low

The second quarter of this year saw electricity consumption drop to a record low level outside of the first Covid lockdown, new official statistics show.

The latest quarterly Energy Trends snapshot, published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, shows that total consumption of electricity was 61.3 terrawatt hours (TWh) in the three months from April to June.

This was the lowest quarterly value recorded since the government began collecting this data in 1998 apart from Q2 2020 when the first Covid-19 lockdown substantially reduced demand.

Electricity consumption was also 4% down on the second quarter of 2022.

Domestic consumption was 20.4TWh in the second quarter of the year, 7.7% lower than the same period last year.

Given that temperatures were broadly similar, this decrease is likely to reflect the influence of higher consumer prices, including energy prices, according to the bulletin.

This continues the recent run of lower consumption figures, which has accompanied increased household costs, it says.

The update also shows that despite reduced low carbon electricity output, its share of total generation increased due to lower overall demand and an even sharper fall in gas power.

Renewables’ share of electricity generation was 42.1% in the second quarter of 2023, up from 38.7% in the equivalent three months last year.

Solar generation hit a record high of 5.5TWh of electricity as a result of sunny conditions and increased capacity.

The growth in solar output of 8%, compared to the same quarter in 2022, was the highest such increase in six years.

The 5.5TWh of electricity generated by solar PVs exceeded total renewable electricity output in the same quarter in 2010.

However renewable generation fell 16% , with lower wind speeds subduing generation from this source. The addition of new capacity during the year was insufficient to offset the effect of unusually low wind speeds, which were 6.9 knots in the second quarter of the year, well below the long-term seasonal average of 8.2 knots.

Nuclear generation fell 22% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year. This reflected the closure of the Hinkley Point B plant for decommissioning and maintenance outages at four of the UK’s five remaining nuclear sites during the quarter.

Fossil fuels comprised 38.8% of total electricity generation, down 3% on the same quarter of last year. Usage of fossil fuels in generation fell by 24% to 25.1TWh.

Meanwhile, demand for natural gas fell by 13% overall compared with the same three months in 2022, the biggest component of which was accounted for by a 23% drop in electricity generation.

Household demand decreased by 9.3% compared to the same period in the previous year, which was likely to be due to increased costs as temperatures were broadly similar over the period.

Electricity imports of 7.6TWh were a second quarter record due to increased interconnector capacity and advantageous price differentials, with lower UK electricity generation.

Meanwhile imports and exports were both down, by 23% and 20%respectively compared to Q2 2022, following consistently high exports in 2022 as the UK supported European efforts to move away from Russian gas.