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Gas fired electricity generation fell in 2013 to its lowest first quarter level in 15 years, the latest Department of Energy and Climate Change statistics show.
Output was down from 27.1TWh in Q1 2012 to 26.5TWh in Q1 2013, attributed to high wholesale gas prices. Several gas power stations have been closed or mothballed.
Coal power was also slightly down, after a bumper 2012 driven by cheap supplies, from 42.1TWh to 41.6TWh.
Low carbon generation’s share of the mix was up from 28.4 per cent to 30.4 per cent.
Wind and solar generation soared by 30 per cent to 6.9TWh due to greater installed capacity. Offshore expansion was particularly rapid, leading to a more than two thirds hike in output to 2.5TWh.
Nuclear generation rose 6 per cent to 18.3TWh, with fewer outages than the same quarter last year.
An increase in biomass generation from the now-closed Tilbury B was offset by lower levels of co-firing with coal, resulting in a 3.5 per cent rise to 4.2TWh.
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