High levels of renewable generation continues into 2024

Electricity generation from renewable technologies in Q1-24 nearly matched the highest quarterly figure set in Q4-23 of 32.26 TWh, but renewables’ share of the UK power mix increased to a record 51.2% (1).

For the second consecutive quarter, wind remained the principal source of UK electricity with a share of 34% this quarter, 1ppt lower than in the last three months of 2023.

More wind energy is expected in the coming months and years as the UK has the second largest global pipeline of offshore wind projects at all stages of development at nearly 100GW - more than six times our current capacity (2).

Meanwhile, onshore wind capacity reached a milestone in March with 17GW of capacity now fully operational throughout the UK (3).

Biomass accounted for 6% of the mix with 4.5TWh for the second quarter in a row, electricity produced by solar panels increased slightly from 1.5TWh to 1.8TWh QoQ and accounted for 2% of the overall power mix this quarter.

Generation from fossil fuels increased slightly to 22.7TWh and accounted for 36% of the mix. Gas remained the second largest source of power generation with a share of at 29%.

Low carbon generation (primarily nuclear) dropped to a record quarterly low of 8TWh in the first three months of 2024. As a result, its share of the mix also decreased to its lowest quarterly level of 12%. The reduction in nuclear power output was primarily caused by multiple outages in the nuclear fleets at Hartlepool, Haysham and Torness (4).

Imports increased substantially by 34% to 9.8TWh compared to the previous quarter. France also maintained its position as the top exporter of power, followed by Norway. This trend was driven by low power prices in France and Norway through-out the quarter in comparison to other exporting countries (5).