Figures released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) at the end of June show that “renewable generation reached a record share of 47.8% of total generation”.
During the same quarter in 2010, renewables accounted for only 5.8% of electricity generation.
The new record is 1% higher than the previous record from Q1 2020, and 2.4% higher than the same period last year.
Electricity demand was also down, with the cost of living crisis pushing people to monitor their consumption.
DESNZ said: “In the first quarter of 2023 total primary energy production was 27.3 million tonnes of oil equivalent, 8.0 per cent lower than in the first quarter of 2022. Production of all fuels fell compared to the same quarter in 2022 with the exception of offshore wind.”
“Coal output in the first quarter of 2023 fell by 57 per cent and was at a record 21st century low quarterly level, whilst oil and gas production levels which have increased since maintenance in Summer 2021 both fell and are down by 34 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively on pre-pandemic (2019) levels,” DESNZ added.
🍃 Nearly HALF of our electricity came from renewable energy sources in the first 3 months of the year
— Ofgem (@ofgem) June 30, 2023
Not only that, we saw a 10% decrease in fossil fuel generation
Great news as part of our journey to #NetZero pic.twitter.com/4GG1ZXfQWd
The report shows that the UK is making significant progress in the deployment of renewable energy, with offshore and solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment increasing by around 1GW each in the past year.
Renewable generation was so high at the beginning of July that electricity prices turned negative. Energy company Octopus reported that their ‘Agile Octopus’ smart tariff hit a new record on July 2, with customers paid up to 20p for every kWh of electricity used.
However, in the longer term, energy consumption is due to rise significantly, with heat pumps and electric vehicles increasing demands on the electricity grid. Q1 2023 saw a significant decrease in electricity consumed by the industrial sector – 7% compared to Quarter 1 2021 – with a corresponding decrease in the manufacturing Index of Production.
These statistics should therefore be seen as something of an outlier, with increased supply of renewables coinciding with decreasing demand and deployment of renewable energy will need to keep pace with demand to continue this trend.
