Fossil fuels’ share of generation at ‘record low’

The share of the UK’s electricity generated from fossil fuels reached a “record low” in the first quarter of 2019, figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have revealed.

The energy trends report, released today (27 June), shows their slice of the generation mix fell by 3.5 percentage points year-on-year to 45.8 per cent. Coal’s share plunged to a new low of 3.5 per cent – down from 9.3 per cent during the same quarter in 2018.

This was partly the result of 16 per cent decrease in domestic energy consumption after average temperatures dropped by 1.9 degrees Celsius following last year’s ‘Beast from the East’. Gas demand fell by 11 per cent and electricity consumption by 5 per cent. Total fossil fuel generation dropped by 13 per cent to 39.8TWh.

Meanwhile, renewables’ share of generation rose by 5 percentage points to 35.8 per cent due to increased wind and biomass capacity. Total renewable capacity grew by 7.9 per cent to 45GW.

Outages at several reactors meant nuclear generation fell by 16 per cent, reaching its lowest level since the third quarter of 2010 at 13.9TWh.

Responding to the report Luke Clark, head of external affairs at Renewable UK, said: “It’s great to see that wind is playing the leading role in the increasing proportion of electricity we’re generating from renewable sources.

“This is set to increase massively in the years ahead, as we’re on course to grow our offshore wind capacity from 8GW now to 30GW by 2030.

“However, if we’re going to reach net zero emissions at the lowest cost to consumers, as the government wants, we need to maximise the opportunities offered by onshore wind too, and to find a way forward for innovative technologies like floating offshore wind and tidal energy.”

Peter Haslam, head of policy at the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “While nuclear’s share of generation fell in Q1 of 2019, nuclear continues to make a significant contribution to the UK’s efforts to reaching net zero.

“During the UK’s first ever week without coal-fired power in May of this year, nuclear supplied over 50 per cent of the UK’s domestically generated clean electricity.

“The majority of our current reactors have gone above and beyond their expected lifespans, and are now well into their extension periods, so more frequent outages are to be expected.

“This underlines the case that new nuclear stations must be prioritised in time to replace existing capacity before it’s gone for good.”