With another bank holiday has come another renewable generation record, with wind power hitting a new high of 17.6GW.
At 3.30pm on Monday 3 May, the renewable source was producing 48.4% of Britain’s electricity mix according to provisional results from National Grid ESO.
This just tops the previous wind record set in February during the Beast from the East 2, when it hit a generation high of 17.5GW. Before that the previous record was set on December 18 2020, when wind generation hit 17.2GW.
RenewableUK’s deputy chief executive Melanie Onn welcomed the record set on a “wet and unseasonably cold May bank holiday”, with the clean power helping everyone stay warm and dry.
“The fact that wind is generating nearly half the country’s electricity shows how central it has become in our modern energy system.
“The UK’s healthy pipeline of wind energy projects set to be built onshore and offshore will help us to reach the government’s target of net zero emissions as fast as possible, and as we ramp up our renewable energy capacity we can expect fresh records in the years ahead”.
It follows a record breaking year for renewable generation, with the likes of Drax Electric Insights and National Grid ESO hailing 2020 as the greenest ever year. For example, wind alone contributed 59.9% of the electricity mix on August 26, renewables kept coal off the grid for 68 days and Britain saw its first coal-free Christmas since the industrial revolution.
The new wind record comes less than a week after Britain just narrowly missed a new solar record, with generation falling just below the predictions. On 22 and 23 April solar generation peaked at 9.6GW and 9.5GW, just below Britain’s 9.7GW record.
Read more: CURRENT
