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Wind is now UK’s biggest source of power generation

Wind Energy

According to data from the Ember think tank, as cited by Reuters, wind power overtook fossil fuel generation to become the UK’s single biggest source of electricity.

This announcement came at two consecutive quarters, which is a first for the country.

Some 25.3-terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity were generated by UK wind farms in the first quarter compared to 23.6 TWh for fossil fuel generation, mostly from gas-fired power stations.

In terms of their contribution to the energy mix, this equates to averages of 39.4% and 36.2%, respectively.

Lower wind speeds in the summer may of course change this. Nevertheless, traditional oil majors like Shell and BP are leveraging their offshore experience to deliver large-scale windfarms at sea. They are also developing grease and gear oil like Castrol Optigear Synthetic CT 320 specifically for the wind sector.

As a result, the contribution of wind power to the UK power mix rose from an average of 2.7% in 2010 to 28.7% last year, according to figures from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Nevertheless, gas was still the principal source of electricity at 34.3%.

The total electricity generation from both wind and solar was 27.1 TWh during the first quarter, or 42.2% of the country’s energy generation. Solar generation typically peaks in the UK during the second quarter at around 5 TWh, which may help offset the effect of slower winds in that quarter.

Nevertheless, greater fossil fuel electricity generation may still be needed over the summer to meet demand.

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