UK’s renewable generation hits record highs

The UK’s renewable energy output hit a record high of 19.3GW yesterday, meeting more than half of the country’s electricity demand. That’s according to data collected at lunchtime by National […]

The UK’s renewable energy output hit a record high of 19.3GW yesterday, meeting more than half of the country’s electricity demand.

That’s according to data collected at lunchtime by National Grid, which showed solar installations produced around 7.6GW of energy, while wind farms generated 9.5GW of power.

The UK also burned 2GW of renewable biomass made from waste wood and produced a relatively small amount of electricity through hydropower plants.

National Grid suggested this is the first time renewable energy and nuclear power have produced more power than coal and gas plants combined.

At midday, nuclear power made up 23.2% of the energy mix, with gas-fired power plants being lowered to 20.8% to make room for the surge in clean electricity.

The record output caused market prices to fall into negative territory and prompted National Grid to make payments to major energy users to use more power and avoid oversupply choking the grid.

The UK’s fleet of solar panels recently generated a record amount of power.

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