Stormy weather pushed the UK’s renewable electricity generation to to record levels at the end of 2013, according to official statistics. However, fossil fuels still made up the largest proportion of the UK’s energy mix.
Renewables generated almost 18 per cent of the UK’s electricity in the last three months of 2013, with high wind speeds ramping up wind generation.
The figure comes from Department of Energy and Climate Change’s monthly energy statistics, which track energy production and consumption between November 2013 and January this year.
Electricity mix by fuel
Electricity generation fell by 3.4 per cent on a year before, the statistics show.
Renewables’ share of the overall mix increased to around 18 per cent. Meanwhile the proportion of fossil fuels used to generate electricity decreased slightly, to 61 per cent. Coal power continued to have the highest share: to 36 per cent.
Renewables growth
Wind power’s share of the UK electricity mix grew significantly. The amount of electricity generated from onshore wind grew by 63 per cent on a year before, while offshore wind generation rose by 42 per cent.
The increase in wind power’s generation was largely down to higher wind speeds as stormy weather gripped the UK at the end of 2013. Average wind speeds in December were the highest for 13 years, while the whole three month period was the windiest quarter for two years.
Energy consumption
Energy consumption fell slightly over the course of 12 months – by around five per cent on the same period the year before, or 0.5 per cent when the 2013’s warmer winter is taken into account.
Household energy consumption fell by about 12 per cent on a year before, due to the relatively mild temperatures at the end of 2013.
The relatively stable levels of consumption illustrate the UK’s failure to make any great strides in reducing household energy demand. Energy secretary Ed Davey acknowledged earlier this month that take-up of the government’s flagship energy efficiency programme, the Green Deal, has been disappointingly slow.
Update, 26/03/14, 4.30pm:
It's been pointed out in the comments below that energy consumption has fallen since 2000. Part of this drop was due to the economic recession, as we've gone into in more detail here; some of that drop will also be due to improvements in energy efficiency. Over the last 12 months - since the government introduced the Green Deal - domestic energy use increased by 1.8 per cent (for the whole of 2013, compared to 2012), or decreased by 1.6 per cent when 2013's colder weather (over the course of the whole year) is taken into account.