2020 - the greenest year for the UK electricity system
2020 has been the greenest year on record for the UK electricity system following a surge in renewable power and the decline of nuclear and coal power (5).
Coal has been on a long downwards trend, whilst nuclear power production was impacted by outages and National Grid’s measures to respond to the fall in demand as a result of the lockdowns.
Imports have also declined during 2020 primarily during Q2 and Q3 driven by the lower power prices in wholesale markets.
In contrast, renewable power from wind and solar farms set multiple new records in 2020 including the longest period without coal power since the Industrial Revolution and the first ever coal-free Christmas day.
According to National Grid ESO (5), some of the new records set in 2020 included:
- 20th April: maximum solar power of 9,680MW
- 24th May: minimum carbon intensity at 46 gCO2/KWh
- May: renewables accounted for 48% of the UK’s power mix
- 16th June: longest period without coal power of 1,630 hours (nearly 68 days)
- 18th December: maximum wind power of 17,278MW
- 26th December: minimum gas-fired generation of 1,531MW and wind accounted for more than 50% of the UK’s power mix
Despite the new records recorded by renewable generation in 2020, it’s worth remembering that the UK still gets about 40% of its power from gas.
It appears that the UK is still some years away from managing a system that solely relies on green energy. The future of the energy system will be more akin to the one seen in 2020, a system that depends on both renewables and non-renewables including nuclear.
As renewables become more mainstream, the system is likely to become less stable, hence, a more flexible and price sensitive approach is needed to balance out the increased volatility of both demand and supply.
(1) Cornwall Insight business energy market report October 2020
(2) Grant Thornton survey of 642 senior decision makers in UK mid-market businesses December 2020. Turnover between £50m-£500m
(3) Non-energy costs including Policy and BSUoS cost index growth for a sample customer with a non-half hourly meter: Charges & Levies include RO, CCL, CfDs, CM. Transmission/Distribution components include TNUoS, BSUoS, DUoS
(4) UK power prices for Winter 20/Summer 21: ICE UK Power Settlement Prices
(5) National Grid ESO Monthly Insights, Elexon and Sheffield Solar