New analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit’s (ECIU) Power Tracker has revealed that the amount of energy generated from renewables outnumbered that of gas.
In the 2023/24 winter heating season, power generated by wind, hydro and solar is estimated to have reached around 55TWh, 10TWh more than the 45TWh generated by gas power stations across the UK.
Throughout the colder months, renewables are estimated to have provided around 40% of power generation, with gas generating around a third.
Other generations, for example, nuclear and biomass, have accounted for the rest (approximately a quarter – 25%).
“With or without new licenses, the North Sea will continue its inevitable decline, so we’ll need to import ever greater quantities of gas from abroad unless we cut our demand by rolling out more renewables,” said Jess Ralston, head of energy at ECIU.
She continued: “Despite the good news on renewables now if you look more broadly, we’re heading backwards on energy independence. The government fumbled its last renewables auction, securing no new offshore wind farms.
“It is also set to agree to only a limited number in the next auction round because of the Treasury’s odd rules. It has also just delayed the roll-out of heat pumps which can run on electricity from British offshore wind, rather than boilers that will increasingly have to run on foreign gas.”
The positives
The ECIU highlighted several key developments in the UK’s renewable energy sector, which indicate a future with many more winters similar to the last.
For example, the fact that there are multiple large new wind farms in the pipeline could help to meet the UK’s growing demand for electricity, including the ‘world’s largest’ wind farm, Dogger Bank, which is due to come online in 2026.
In addition, National Grid announced it will accelerate 10GW of battery storage projects, with 20-30GW more storage capacity expected to connect by 2030 in its most ambitious scenarios.
On a national scale, earlier this year, the UK government announced that the country had cut its emissions by 50% between 1990 and 2022, as confirmed by official statistics.
The government also mentioned that in the same period of 1990 to 2022, the country’s economy grew by 79%, supported by the growth of a renewable energy industry.
The UK’s 50% emissions reduction statistic from 2022 compares with a 23% reduction in France and zero change in the US as of 2021.
The negatives
Despite reaching these significant milestones and supporting renewable developments, the UK is still lacking across many clean energy fields.
As pointed out by the ECIU, the government failed to secure any offshore wind bids in the last Contracts for Difference auction in September 2023.
Although changes have been made to the scheme’s parameters for the next auction round in 2024, the overall budget is still artificially limited by the Treasury using outdated ‘reference’ prices for the late 2020s.
The research group also mentioned the concerns around grid infrastructure and the process of connecting to the grid while keeping pace with the quick buildout rate.
The ECIU said that some of the changes to planning and regulations required could be minimal in cost as they could involve.
For example, changing the current first-come-first-served queuing system to a system where a renewable project must have all the appropriate financing before joining the queue may help remove ‘zombie’ projects.