UK’s Renewables Generate More Power Than Fossil Fuels

For the first time, low-carbon renewables such as wind, solar, and hydropower are set to generate more electricity than fossil fuels, with wind power close to becoming the single largest source of the UK power, this year, according to global energy think tank Ember.

Home-grown UK renewable power will cross a significant threshold in 2024, overtaking fossil fuel generation for the first full year. Wind, solar and hydropower are set to generate a combined 37% of UK electricity in 2024 (103 TWh), compared to 35% from fossil fuels (97 TWh). Fossil fuels generated 46% of UK electricity, while low-carbon renewables generated 27%, three years ago.

Including biomass, renewables overtook fossil fuels in the UK in 2020, fell below fossil power the following year as biomass production fell, and again overtook in 2023, Ember said on Tuesday.

However, Ember’s analysis raised concerns about biomass being categorised as clean power in the UK, given the significant emissions risks and lack of domestic pellet production. Bioenergy, which includes biomass and biogas power, is set to provide 14% of UK electricity in 2024.

Fossil generation in 2024 has fallen by two-thirds since 2000, with the long awaited phase-out of coal power, and gas increasingly displaced by cheaper, cleaner power sources. Coal started to decline rapidly from 2012 and since 2020, coal power has made up only 2% of generation in the UK, dropping to zero by October 2024.

Gas has seen a gradual decline since 2016. Across 2024 there has been a large decrease in fossil gas power, which provided 30% of electricity in 2024 (85 TWh), down from 34% in 2023 (98 TWh).

Wind Power’s Milestone

Besides low-carbon renewable power overtaking fossil fuels for the first time, wind power is well on its way to overtaking gas as the largest single power source, although with only 1% difference in generation forecasts it is too close to call in 2024.

In the first three quarters of the year, wind out-generated gas power, but towards the end of 2024 there was a lull in wind speeds and a reduction in temperatures which has shrunk the difference between annual wind and gas power supply to 1%, Ember said.

Wind is set to generate 29% of UK electricity in 2024 (82 TWh), just behind gas power at 30% (85 TWh). Based on historical data Ember would expect the wind power generation total in 2024 to be no less than 81 TWh and with a maximum of 87 TWh.

With final totals dependent on wind speeds, interconnector flows and overall demand in December, it is too close to call whether wind power will overtake gas to become the UK’s largest source of electricity in 2024.

Onshore Wind Generation

The increase in UK wind generation in 2024 (+1.5%) is mainly due to a large increase in generation from onshore wind. There was a 23% increase in onshore wind generation in the first three quarters of 2024, the second largest percentage growth since 2017, a result of slightly increased capacity and improved wind speeds.

In 2024, there has been an increase in UK onshore wind capacity of 590 MW, with a further 78 MW targeting completion before the start of 2025.

The onshore Viking Wind Farm on Shetland, completed in September 2024, makes up the majority of newly installed capacity at 443 MW. The lifting of the de facto onshore wind ban in July 2024 is expected to lead to an increased deployment rate in the near-medium term in England, as part of the progression towards a clean power system in 2030.

In comparison to the growth in onshore wind, offshore wind has had a slower year. No new offshore wind farms have entered full commercial operation in 2024, though some partially built sites are sending power to the grid already.

Offshore wind farms generating power in 2024 prior to final completion include Dogger Bank A&B, Neart na Gaoithe, and Moray West wind farms.

These sites under construction have expected final completion dates in 2025 and 2026 and will add a combined 3.8 GW to total UK wind capacity. In the next few years, wind power generation potential is set to increase significantly, continuing the trend of renewable power increasingly displacing fossil gas, Ember said.