UK Offshore Wind Generation Goes Up

UK electricity generated from offshore wind increased by 10.0 per cent to 5.1TWh in the first quarter of 2016, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reported in its latest energy statistics.

The offshore wind generation went up due to an increase in capacity, according to DECC.

Meanwhile, generation from onshore wind decreased by 10.5 per cent to 6.4TWh. Generation from solar photovoltaics increased by 41 per cent to 1.3TWh, and solar photovoltaics now has the highest share of renewable capacity, a position previously held by onshore wind.

Renewables’ share of total generation in Q1 2016 was 25.1 per cent, an increase of 2.3 percentage points on Q1 2015, mostly reflecting increased capacity. Renewable electricity capacity was 31.3GW at the end of the first quarter of 2016, 12 per cent (3.4GW) higher than a year earlier, and a 2.6 per cent increase (0.8GW) on Q4 2015.

In its June 2016 edition of Energy Trends, DECC also included summary renewables statistics for 2015, published for the first time, which show that offshore wind generation increased by 30 per cent in 2015.