Engineering news
More than half of the UK’s electricity in the third quarter of 2016 came from low-carbon energy sources for the first time.
The findings come from Electric Insights, a report produced by Imperial College London and commissioned by energy company Drax. The report states that between July and September coal supplied only 3% of UK’s energy, compared to 38% in 2012. In the third quarter of 2016, the UK was coal-free for six days, according to Drax.
Per-unit carbon emissions from electricity consumption are at their lowest levels ever, according to the company, thanks mainly to the carbon tax, which is designed to help energy companies invest in renewable and lower carbon generation.
James Court, head of policy and external affairs at the Renewable Energy Association, said: “The UK has made excellent progress in deploying renewable and low-carbon source of power in the last decade, but more needs to be done. As many of the country’s coal power stations are scheduled to be closed in the coming years, we are presented with a significant opportunity to recycle our existing infrastructure and upgrade it to fit within the context of a low-carbon world.
“Former coal stations can be converted to use wood pellets as fuel, which is a sustainable, low-carbon and cost effective way to produce electricity. We’re urging the government to open up the Contract for Difference auction so that more plants can be adjusted, saving jobs, infrastructure and assets while helping the UK to decarbonise in the most cost effective way. “
Nuclear constitutes 26% of the total, making up the largest proportion of low-carbon power generation across the third quarter of 2016.
Wind power comprises 10% of total low-carbon power generation in this time period, and was the largest renewable source of the quarter. In 2011, it comprised only 4%, seeing a 150% increase. The UK is the world’s sixth largest producer of wind power behind China, the USA, India, Germany and Spain.
The second largest renewable contributor to the country’s low-carbon energy needs was solar. The UK has a total installed solar capacity of nearly 10 GW as of 2016. This places the country sixth in the world for capacity behind China, Germany, Japan, the USA and Italy.
Biomass, a low-carbon fuel that can deliver both baseload and flexible power, made up 4% of the UK’s power needs in the quarter. A proportion came from Drax, which has over the last five years been upgrading from coal to run on compressed wood pellets.
Drax predicts that if biomass capacity keeps increasing, it could generate roughly 10% of the country’s electricity using compressed wood pellets by 2025.
Hydropower made up just 1% of the UK’s power generation over the quarter. However, this is still up by 20% since 2011, when hydropower contributed just 0.8%. Total installed hydropower capacity is around 1.65GW.
However, studies have found the country has a potential hydropower capacity of close to double this amount, but as many of these sources are located in mountainous, rural landscape areas of natural importance, it’s doubtful whether hydropower will be deployed up to its full capabilities in the coming years.
Low-carbon sources made up only more than a quarter of UK’s electricity five years ago.
The data comes after the government announced last year that coal power stations were expected to shut down by 2025.