Energy securityA First: U.K. Renewables Generate More Electricity than Fossil Fuels

In the third quarter of 2019, the U.K.’s windfarms, solar panels, biomass and hydro plants generated more electricity than the combined output from power stations fired by coal, oil and gas, Carbon Brief analysis reveals.

During the three months of July, August and September, renewables generated an estimated total of 29.5 terawatt hours (TWh), compared with just 29.1TWh from fossil fuels, the analysis shows.

This is the first-ever quarter where renewables outpaced fossil fuels since the U.K.’s first public electricity generating station opened in 1882. It is another symbolic milestone in the stunning transformation of the U.K.’s electricity systemover the past decade.

Nevertheless, a lack of progress in other parts of the economy means the U.K. remains far off trackagainst its upcoming legally-binding carbon targets, let alone the recently adopted goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissionsby 2050.

Transformative Decade
Carbon Brief reports that at the start of this decade in 2010, the 288TWh generated from fossil fuels accounted for around three-quarters of the U.K. total. It was also more than 10 timesas much electricity as the 26TWh that came from renewables.

Since then, electricity generation from renewable sources has more than quadrupled – and demand has fallen– leaving fossil fuels with a shrinking share of the total.

This shift is shown in this chart, with the declining quarterly output from power stations burning coal, oil and gas in blue and rising generation from renewables in red.

(The quarterly chart also reflects the seasons, with demand higher in winter and lower in summer. Windfarm output is well matched with this cycle, as it tends to be windier in winter.)

The chart shows that electricity generation from fossil fuels has halved since 2010, from 288TWh down to 142TWh in the most recent 12-month period.

Gas now contributes the vast majority of that shrinking total, as coal plants close down ahead of a planned phaseout in 2025. These ageing power stations were mostly built in the 1960s and 70s and are increasingly uneconomic to run due to CO2 prices, market forcesand pollution rules.

In the third quarter of 2019, some 39 percent of U.K. electricity generation was from coal, oil and gas, including 38 percent from gas and less than 1 percent from coal and oil combined.