The UK saw a fall in production from coal-fired power stations in the second quarter of this year.

The share of electricity from coal power plants fell 28.2% – compared to 34.5% in the same quarter last year – due to a number of mine closures, the latest energy statistics from DECC suggest. Gas partially replaced coal power between May and July, it added.

Renewable electricity capacity in the UK totalled 22.2GW, up 0.9GW on the first quarter and 2.7GW or 14% compared to a year earlier.

But overall renewable generation fell 1% year-on-year and as overall generation dropped by 6.2%, renewables share of electricity generation rose 1% to 17%.

Solar production however rose by more than 67% year-on-year in the second quarter this year – generating 1.2TWh of electricity.

Wind production saw a 19% fall due to very slow wind speeds while generation from bioenergy rose by 8.8%, mainly due to the conversion of a second unit of Drax coal power station to biomass.