New statistics show UK biomass growth

• 11 years ago (2013-04-05)
• Junior Isles

Europe 1061 Renewables 752

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Statistics released by the UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change show that bioenergy’s share in UK power generation increased by 17 per cent last year, from 13 TWh in 2011 to 15.2 TWh in 2012.

Bioenergy, which includes landfill gas, sewage gas, municipal solid waste, plant biomass, animal biomass and co-firing, accounted for 37 per cent of UK renewables generation in 2012. By comparison, onshore wind, offshore wind, hydropower, and solar generated (respectively) 29 per cent, 18 per cent, 13 per cent and 3.2 per cent.

Notably, power generation from plant biomass more than doubled in 2012, up from 1.7 TWh in 2011 to 4.2 TWh last year. This increase is largely due to the opening of the Tilbury power plant near the end of 2011. Over the same period co-firing fell by 39 per cent, as coal fired stations utilised smaller percentages of biomass.

“The conversion of Tilbury… shows what a big difference biomass can make, especially at a time when the government is desperate to bring forward affordable, baseload, low carbon generation,” said Gaynor Nartnell, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association, in a statement.

Overall, renewable energy’s share of UK generation increased by 2 per cent in 2012, up from 9.4 per cent in 2011 to 11.3 per cent in 2012. Renewable electricity production capacity also increased to 15.5 GW over the course of 2012, a 26 per cent boost on 2011’s 3.2 GW figure.