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Renewables surpass coal in Britain's Q2 electricity generation

Xinhua, September 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Britain's total share of electricity generation from renewable energy reached a record high of 25 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to a report released Thursday by the government's department of energy and climate change (DECC).

The hike in renewable energy production in the second quarter was due to favorable weather conditions, including higher wind speeds, rainfall and sun hours, as well as more turbines and solar panels having been installed, the report said.

This was an increase of 8.6 percentage points over the same period of last year when the figure stood at 16.4 percent, according to the statistics.

Among the renewables, solar power saw the strongest surge between April and June, rising by 114.8 percent over last year. Electricity from wind went up by 65 percent year-over-year, driven by the expansion of several large-scale offshore wind farms. Electricity from biomass also rose by 26 percent year-over-year.

In general, gas took up the largest share of electricity generation in the second quarter, about 30 percent of the total. Renewables and nuclear energy came in second and third, while coal fell back to fourth place, with a share of 20.5 percent. Endit