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It found that wind will overtake natural gas as the UK’s largest source of electricity in the year to April 2024.
240902_Drax_24Q2_2024.pdf
(PDF file)https://reports.electricinsights.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/240902_Drax_24Q2_2024.pdf
Wind becomes Britain’s largest electricity source | Q2 2024 Quarterly Report | Electric Insights
https://reports.electricinsights.co.uk/q2-2024/wind-becomes-britains-largest-electricity-source/
Below is a graph showing the amount of electricity generated by natural gas and wind in the UK. In the 12 months to April 2024, natural gas produced 81 TWh (31% of the total), while wind produced 81 TWh (32% of the total), making wind the largest source of electricity for the first time in modern times.
Because wind power generation depends on nature, there are times when the amount of power generated is high and times when it is low, and looking at monthly power generation alone, wind power actually topped the list for the first time in November 2013. 2024 will be the first year that wind power has become the largest source of power generation in total throughout the year.
Reasons for the higher wind power output include increased wind speeds due to storms in December 2023 and January 2024, as well as the commissioning of new wind farms.
In the UK, wind power output increased by 6% compared to the previous year, while gas power output decreased by 25%, but the large decrease in gas power output was due to an increase in electricity imports from overseas. The UK is reducing its reliance on domestic natural gas-fired power plants by importing electricity from France, Norway, Denmark, etc. Overall, one-fifth of the country’s electricity is imported.
According to Electric Insights, which compiled the report, as of last year (2023), there were 10 countries in the world whose largest source of electricity was wind or solar. In the case of solar, all were least developed countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and in the case of wind, all were coastal countries in Europe.
Electric Insights said, “In 2021, prices rose sixfold as Russia began to restrict gas supplies to Europe due to the impact of COVID-19. Then in 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted the market. However, gas prices returned to normal levels in the year leading up to 2024 as demand fell and natural gas supplies from the United States and the Middle East filled the gap. Household electricity rates remained high until the second half of 2023, but as of 2024 they had fallen by 24% over the past 12 months. However, they are still higher than the levels seen in 2020, and it may take some time for electricity prices to fall further as rising electricity prices are affecting inflation in the construction and generation costs of wind power plants, as well as food and other products.”
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