More power from renewables than gas during recent UK winter

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit have found that UK renewables generated more power than gas in the 2023/24 winter.

The not-for-profit Power Tracker estimates that wind, hydroelectric and solar power have generated around 55TWh over the recent UK winter.

Higher than the power generated over the same timeframe by UK gas power stations, estimated to be 45TWh.

The renewable generation is estimated as the equivalent of running about 21 million homes in the UK for a year.

Generating the same amount of power using gas stations only would have required 110TWh more gas – the equivalent of heating more than 9 million UK homes or 130 LNG tankers.

However, Head of Energy at ECIU Jess Ralston says, 'Despite the good news on renewables now, if you look more broadly we’re heading backwards on energy independence. The Government fumbled its last renewables auction securing no new offshore wind farms. It’s also set to agree only a limited number in the next auction round because of Treasury’s odd rules. It has also just delayed the roll out of heat pumps which can run on electricity from British offshore wind, rather than boilers that will increasingly have to run on foreign gas.'

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit says several large new wind farms are in the pipeline to meet the UK's growing demand for electricity, including the world's largest at Dogger Bank – due to come online in 2026.

In winter, renewables are estimated to have provided around 40% of power generation, with gas around a third. Other generation, including nuclear and biomass has accounted for the rest – about 25%.