New renewable electricity generation records confirmed in Government’s energy bible

Renewables provided 41.5% of the UK’s electricity last year (135.0 terawatt hours), compared to 40.8% from fossil fuels (132.8TWh). This beats the previous record for the amount of electricity generated by renewables (134.3TWh) set in 2020, when renewables outperformed fossil fuels for the first time.

The Digest of UK Energy Statistics states that the increase is due to high output from wind and solar generators, substantial increases in wind generation capacity and more favourable weather conditions than 2021. The annual report also notes that the share of generation from fossil fuels fell by 1.8% compared to the previous year as renewables reduced the need for fossil fuel generation.

Wind remains the UK’s biggest source of clean power, generating a record 24.7% of the UK’s electricity (80.3TWh), beating the previous record of 24.0% in 2020 (75.4TWh). 
Wind provided 59.5% of all renewable electricity. 

13.8% of the UK’s electricity was produced by offshore wind (a record 45.0TWh beating 40.7TWh in 2020) and 10.8% from onshore wind (a record 35.2TWh beating 34.7TWh in 2020). The report highlights the fact that offshore wind alone generated more than total renewable generation ten years ago.

Commenting on today’s statistics, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail said: “It’s great to see renewables setting new records across the board, generating record amounts of clean power last year, making us less dependant on expensive gas imports at the very time when fossil fuel costs rocketed up, causing an energy crisis which we’re still grappling with.

“Government and industry must pull out all the stops to increase our energy security by ensuring that vital new clean energy projects can be built faster, onshore and offshore. This is not the time to waver or row back on policies which accelerate the energy transition. On the contrary, we need more of a focus from Government on ensuring we continue to unlock investment in renewables, and that the UK’s secures the maximum amount of new jobs and manufacturing investment which could flow from the billions of pounds of private investment which our sector brings”.