Renewable output dips as coal collapses and gas takes over

Low winds and light rains led to decline in renewable generation in 2016 following wet and windy 2015.

Low winds and light rains meant renewable generation took a slight dip in 2016, official figures have revealed.

After reaching a record high during a wet and windy 2015, renewable output fell by one per cent to 82.8TWh, despite a 13.7 per cent increase in capacity to 34.7GW. 

Renewables’ share of total generation dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 24.6 per cent – the second highest level ever recorded.

Wind and solar output declined by 0.2 per cent to 47.8TWh. Offshore wind generation fell by 5.8 per cent to 16.4 TWh and onshore wind generation dropped by 7.8 per cent to 21.1TWh. Hydro output plunged 15 per cent to 5.4TWh.

The falls were offset somewhat by a 0.7 per cent increase in production from bioenergy, which set a new annual record of 29.6 TWh.

Despite the fall in renewable output, low-carbon sources grew their share of the generation mix by 0.2 percentage points to 45.6 per cent. This was due to a two per cent rise in nuclear output to 71.7TWh.

Meanwhile, the closure of Longannet and Ferrybridge C in March, Rugley in June and Drax’s conversion of a co-firing unit to run completely on biomass, led to a collapse in coal generation, which fell by 59 per cent to 30.7TWh.

Coal’s share of the generation mix dropped to its lowest level ever, plummeting from 22.3 per cent to just 9.1 per cent.

The gap was filled by gas plants facing lower carbon costs which increased their share of total generation from 29.5 per cent to 42.4 per cent. They produced 143.4TWh of electricity in 2016 – a 43 per cent increase on the year before.

Total electricity generation was 0.2 per cent lower in 2016 at 338.6TWh. After nuclear outages led to tight margins in France in second half of the year, imports via interconnectors were down 13.3 per cent to 17.5TWh, whilst exports were up 21 per cent.

The latest statistics from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy revealed a broadly similar picture in the final quarter of the year and for all the same reasons. 

Coal’s share of generation fell from 19.7 per cent in the last three months of 2015 to just 9.3 per cent during same period in 2016. Output was slashed by a half to 8.6TWh.

Gas generation rose by 60 per cent to 42.0 TWh as its share of total generation grew from 29.7 per cent to 45.2 per cent.

Wind and solar output dropped by 12.4 per cent to 12TWh and hydro production fell 34 per cent to 1.2TWh. Renewables’ share of the generation mix was cut from 26.8 per cent to 22.2 per cent.

Nuclear generation rose by one per cent to 18.9TWh, although its share of total generation declined from 21.1 per cent to 20.3 per cent. Low-carbon sources provided 42.6 per cent of Britain’s generation over the period, down from 48 per cent in the final quarter of 2015. 

Electricity generation by energy source

Source: Energy Trends, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy