Low-carbon generation dipped in Q3

Low-carbon generation fell year on year in the last quarter, on the back of widespread nuclear outages and a “relatively small” increase in renewable output, according to new government statistics.

New energy trends statistics, published today (22 December) by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), show that low-carbon sources comprised 55.1 per cent of total electricity generation in the third quarter of this year, compared to 57.6 per cent in the same period in 2019.

The main cause of the fall in low-carbon output, which emerges just over a month after Boris Johnson placed offshore wind power at the heart of his plans for a 10 point green recovery plan, is a “record low” level of nuclear generation over the quarter.

Just 10.9 TWh of nuclear power was generated, the lowest level recorded since these statistics were first collected, as a result of maintenance outages across the fleet.

Howeve,r the fall in low carbon’s share also reflected a “relatively small” year-on-year increase of 0.9 per cent in renewable generation compared to the equivalent period in 2019.

Renewables generated 29.4 TWh in the year’s third quarter, making up 40.2 per cent of total generation.

This included an 11 per cent increase from offshore wind to 8.0 TWh, which was in line with the sector’s burgeoning capacity.

However, this growth in offshore wind was offset by reduced generation from solar and hydro due to unfavourable weather conditions during the summer and early autumn.

Solar generation decreased ten per cent year on year, despite a 1.9 per cent increase in PV capacity, due to lower sunlight hours, while hydro output was down by 15 per cent as a result of lower average rainfall.

Onshore wind generation also fell by 1.6 per cent, despite a “marginal” increase in capacity of 35MW and higher wind speeds, affected by outages at major wind farms.

The share of generation from offshore wind generation increased from 9.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2019 to 11 per cent in the same period this year, while that of solar fell from 6.2 per cent to 5.6 per cent.

Renewable power capacity slowed year on year with the addition of 1.2 GW. This equated to a growth of 2.6 per cent year on year, which is a lower rate than that previously seen in the energy trends data.

The drop in output from low-carbon sources fuelled increased demand for gas generation, which was up by 14 per cent from the third quarter of last year to 67 TWh.

Gas made up “almost all” of the 31.1 TWh fossil fuel generation. Gas remained the fuel with the highest generation at 30.3 TWh, an increase 6 per cent compared to last year.

Cooler temperatures as well as increased working from home also led to increased demand in the domestic sector, which up by 3.6 per cent to 24 TWh.

This boost in demand from generation and domestic users was counterbalanced by an 11 per cent fall in demand for gas from industry as the sector continued to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Overall demand for gas was up by 3.1 per cent during the quarter year on year.

The figures also show that patterns of electricity generation and consumption during the year’s third quarter were “much closer” to normal seasonal trends than those seen during the previous three months, which was affected by the spring lockdown. However, both generation and consumption remained low compared to the equivalent period in 2019.

Total electricity generation was 73.2 TWh in Q3 of 2020, down 1.5 per cent compared with the same period during the previous year.