For the first time, the UK’s electricity has been generated primarily by renewables. This milestone represents a record 144.7 TerraWatt hours of annual renewables-generated electricity.
This also represents a 6.5% increase over 2023, driven by record energy production from bioenergy, solar and wind, based on figures from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero or DESNZ.
UK Renewable Electricity Surpasses Milestone
With renewable energy generation reaching more than half of the UK’s electricity generation, the UK’s renewable energy capacity has also risen to 60.7 gigawatts.
While energy generation covers the amount of electricity produced annually, total installed capacity refers to the maximum energy level a system can generate at a given time.
In reaching the abovementioned capacity, this represents a 4.2 gigawatt capacity increase over 2023, up from 9.3 gigawatts in 2010. With a more than six-fold increase, the UK has seen a significant shift from fossil fuel-heavy electricity generation to renewables-based electricity.
This also showed that fossil fuel generation fell by 16% to a total of 31.5%. This is a percentage level that hasn’t been seen since 1950s. Further, the UK saw a 4% drop in carbon emissions during 2024. There was also a 9% drop in industrial emissions specifically.
The UK also saw fossil fuels dependency see a small drop of 1.9% to 75%. This is with electricity generation in general fell by 2.6% to 285 TerraWatt hours.
ENGIE-Safran Renewables Agreement
As renewables have been shown to surpass 50% of the UK’s electricity generation, French multinational ENGIE and energy company Safran have signed a 10-year agreement. This will allow ENGIE to provide renewable energy to Safran entities with UK-based solar energy production.
This agreement, in the form of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), allows Safran to work on their decarbonisation efforts. This long-term contract will allow Safran to reduce their CO2 emissions by half in 12 sites across the UK, which aligns with their aim to lower their greenhouse gas emissions from their operations by 50% before 2030.
Additional Figures On 2024 Renewable Energy
The UK’s 4.2 gigawatt capacity of renewable energy reached in 2024 represents the highest since 2017.
According to DESNZ, since 2020, offshore wind has accounted for nearly half of yearly new renewable energy capacity and some one-third accounting for solar PV. Beyond that, the rest was primarily related to onshore wind.
Natural gas imports fell by 7.9% whereas exports dropped by 33%, taking it to a little above the average before 2022. Gas production also fell by 11%
While the UK government announced no new licenses for oil and gas fields, the Gas Workers and General Union heavily criticised the policy.
The government added in March that it was seeking a pragmatic approach as it relates to oil and gas production through adjacent fields. At this time, the government announced a plan for a new tax regime to be introduced in 2030 as a replacement for the existing windfall tax levy.
The UK is aiming to reach carbon net zero by 2050, with this including an aim for 100% of electricity to be generated by renewables from 2030.