Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
Wind power set a new record on Sunday by providing 24 per cent of the UK’s electricity supply for the entire day, according to National Grid statistics.
This included setting a new peak record of 7,998 MW generated over a half-hour period at midday on Saturday, once local turbines were factored in.
The previous record stood at 22 per cent of total generation set in August this year.
National Grid’s figures show that strong wind speeds led to wind power output consistently outperforming nuclear power, which generated just 14 per cent for the entire weekend from Friday evening until Monday morning.
The UK’s nuclear fleet is currently at just half its maximum capacity at around 4.5 GW following a string of unplanned outages.
The surge in wind generation led to a number of coal and gas plants being taken offline as they became surplus to requirements, Renewable UK said.
“This year has seen successive new records for wind,” said RenewableUK’s director of external affairs Jennifer Webber.
“Wind power is often used as a convenient whipping boy by political opponents and vested interests; all the while, it’s been quietly powering millions of homes across the UK and providing a robust response to its vocal detractors,” she said.
Please login or Register to leave a comment.