Clean power lobby group RenewableUK is celebrating new statistics released by the National Grid showing January blew away all previous records for monthly, weekly and half-hour wind power production in Britain.
Last month, wind energy generated 14 per cent of Britain’s electricity requirements, 4.13 terawatt hours – the most productive month ever for wind power in the UK. In addition, January saw the weekly record broken with 1,119 gigawatt hours generated, and on January 2nd the half-hourly record was surpassed when gale-force winds spiked production to 31 per cent of the nation’s electricity demand.
The figures come on the back of more good news from energy provider National Grid that reveal 2014 was also record buster for wind energy generation in Britain, producing enough electricity to power over a quarter of UK homes.
New wind capacity in 2014 provided energy for an additional 6.7 million British households. The amount of electricity generated by new wind farms and smaller turbine sites dotted around the country rose from 24.5 terawatt hours in 2013 to 28.1 terawatt hours in 2014.
According to National Grid, this equates to a rise of 9.3 per cent of Britain’s overall energy needs – 25 per cent of annual household requirements – eclipsing 2013’s record of 7.8 per cent.
RenewableUK chief Maf Smith said the results were hugely significant for the sector as the UK enters an election year and called on all parties to heed the statistics.
“We’re now into a General Election year so we know that the political temperature is set to carry on rising over the next few months. The cost of energy has become an important political issue, so now would be a good time for voters, prospective parliamentary candidates and MPs to take account of the fact that onshore wind is the cheapest form of renewable energy we have at our fingertips.”
With the UK expecting 3GW of wind projects to be brought online in 2015, Smith expects the 10 per cent-plus generation figure to become the “new norm” in the UK, and that wind will become the biggest contributor to the nation’s goal of renewable energy providing 30 per cent power needs by 2020.
“It’s great to start 2015 with some good news about the massive quantities of clean electricity we’re now generating from wind, with new records being set month after month, quarter after quarter, and year on year, as we increase our capacity to harness one of Britain’s best natural resources.”
