Renewables generate triple coal-fired power generation in UK for 2017

• 6 years ago (2017-12-29)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 Solar 243 Wind 239

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Data from BM Reports and Sheffield University shows that British wind farms generated more electricity than coal on over 75 per cent of days in 2017, while solar outperformed coal more than half of the time. Overall, renewables provided more power than coal-fired power plants on 315 days in 2017 up to 12 December. Wind exceeded coal on 263 days, and solar exceeded coal on 180 days. Between April and August, coal-fired generation exceeded solar on just 10 days.

In total, renewables generated more than three times the amount of electricity as coal over the year to 12 December.

The UK Government has said that it is committed to phasing out coal power that does not have technology to capture and permanently store its carbon emissions by 2025.

Emma Pinchbeck, Executive Director at RenewableUK, said the decision to phase out coal was being made possible by a “homegrown renewables industry coming into its own.” She added: “In 2018, the Government should move to allow onshore wind, now the cheapest form of power for consumers, to be developed in parts of the UK where it is wanted, and agree an ambitious sector deal with the offshore wind industry.”