Britain’s 2017 Low Carbon Electricity Records And Milestones

Image: seagul

2017 was a big year for low-carbon electricity in Britain, with multiple new records set and the halving of carbon emissions in the electricity sector compared to 2012.

“2017 has been an amazing year for renewable electricity in Britain; we have never been cleaner or greener – and we are on course for an even better year in 2018,” said Gareth Redmond-King, WWF UK’s Head of Energy and Climate Change.

Among the records and milestones for 2017 noted by WWF-UK:

• February 27 – Most electricity production from hydropower at any one moment (4 GW).
• March 21 – Largest amount of renewable generation (19.2GW) at any moment.
• April 21 – the first 24 hour period without coal fired power generation since the Industrial Revolution.
• May 26 – highest level of solar electricity production (8.9GW).
• June 7 – wind, nuclear and solar power generated more than gas and coal combined for the first time.
• June 21 – September 22 – 52% of electricity generation from low carbon sources.
• July 2 – highest percentage (26.8%) of solar electricity produced relative to national demand.
• October 1 – highest level of offshore wind generation at any moment (4.3GW).
• October 2 – Lowest amount of carbon (73 gCO2/kWh) generated by electricity at any given moment.
• October 28-29 – longest period without coal based power generation.
• December 6 – highest level (12.4GW) of wind generation (offshore + onshore).
• December 7 – most wind power produced in a 24 hour period (285GWh).

While upbeat about progress in the electricity sector, WWF-UK warns the UK is behind schedule to meet the 4th or 5th Carbon Budgets. It has called for greater support for renewables and Britain bringing forward a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars to 2030. In July this year, the government announced a plan to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040.

Last week, The Guardian reported British wind farms generated more electricity than coal power stations on more than 75% of days during 2017, and solar power also outperformed coal more than half the time.

MyGridGB notes the following electricity generation statistics for Great Britain for 2017:

• Gas: 114.0 TWh (41.1%)
• Nuclear: 63.0 TWh (22.7%)
• Wind: 32.2 TWh (11.6%)
• Coal: 19.4 TWh (7.0%)
• Imports: 18.6 TWh (6.7%)
• Biomass: 13.8 TWh (5.0%)
• Solar Power: 9.9 TWh (3.6%)
• Hydro: 3.8 TWh (1.4%)

More broadly, across the UK, renewable energy’s share of electricity generation hit a new Q3 record in 2017, while gas and coal power experienced a record low.