Britain’s increased electricity exports to Europe made it a net exporter in 2022 for the first time in over a decade.
The UK has been expanding its network of undersea power cables to Europe. Usually, they have been used to import electricity from the continent. However, the UK exported four times as much electricity as it did last year, while import levels have halved. As a result, Britain had net electricity exports of 1.9 TWh. It is the first time the UK has been a net exporter since 2010.
Renewables generated 40 per cent of the UK’s electricity in 2022, up from 35 per cent in 2021, cutting carbon emissions from the power sector by 2.7 million tonnes.
The analysis is based on figures to December 17, with estimates for the remaining days of 2022.