REA urges action on decarbonisation of heat

Latest official energy figures are “another milestone in the journey” for renewables say trade body

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has urged to the government to prioritise the decarbonisation of heat and transport, following the publication of the latest round of official energy statistics.

Figures published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy yesterday (26 October), show renewables share of electricity generation was a record 29.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2017, mainly due to increased capacity and good weather conditions.

According to the figures, nuclear’s share of generation increased from 21.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2016 to 23.6 per cent in the same time period this year, because of fewer days being lost to outages.

But coal’s share of generation fell from 5.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2016 to 2.1 per cent this year.

The figures also show the carbon share of electricity generated by major power producers up 6.8 per cent to a record high of 52.2 per cent, due to increased nuclear and renewables generation.

Gas provided 45.5 per cent of electricity generation by major power producers, with nuclear accounting for 29.2 per cent, renewables 23 per cent and coal was just 2.4 per cent.

But the latest government figures around solar PV deployment show while it grew by more than 50 per cent between January and September 2015, growth declined to 18 per cent between the same months in 2016 and in 2017 deployment between the same months has only grown by 6 per cent.

The REA believes that this is due to Government policy restricting the routes to market.

The REA’s head of policy and external affairs, James Court said the renewable energy generation figure is “another milestone in the journey towards a more affordable, flexible, and consumer-focused energy system”.

“The Government must address the policy barriers which have unnecessarily impeded their deployment over the last year and give the industry clarity around how the market will be structured in the 2020s,” added Court. 

“We must now also replicate this progress within the heat and transport sectors. This means deploying renewable technologies, which are able utilise resources such as waste, bioenergy and low carbon power, coupled with smarter and more efficient housing. There is no single silver bullet.”