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UK wind energy breaks records

By: Tom Russell 22/12/2020 4C Offshore

General Windfarms

National Grid ESO reported on 18th Decemeber that wind energy broke generation records in Britain. Between 1pm and 1.30pm, wind energy generated 17.2GW of electricity.

Although wind broke the generation record, it only accounted for 43.2% of the mix at the time. The all time high for wind energy in the energy mix is 59.9%, which was recorded in August. This was attributed to high winter demands. Overall generation from zero carbon sources reached 74%.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic appetite for renewable energy generation is high in the UK, particularly offshore wind. Earlier this month the Prime Minister announced a new target to reduce the UK’s emissions by at least 68% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

The UK’s new target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Climate Agreement – is among the highest in the world, and commits the UK to cutting emissions at the fastest rate of any major economy so far.

The new target is underpinned by the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan, which pledged to mobilise £12 billion of government investment to support this plan. It provides a roadmap of further action the UK will be taking to reduce emissions in the coming decades, encouraging similar levels of ambition from businesses, organisations and nations around the world. Covering clean energy, transport, nature and innovative technologies, the Prime Minister’s blueprint will allow the UK to forge ahead with eradicating its contribution to climate change by 2050,

The ten point plan is part of the Prime Minister's new plans to Build Back Greener, making the UK the world leader in clean wind energy. Boris Johnson pledged that every UK home will be powered by electricity from offshore wind farms by 2030 and that £160m will be spent on ports and factories across the country to manufacture the next generation turbines. The plan includes quadrupling how much offshore wind energy the UK produces to 40GW by 2030.

Next year, the UK government has scheduled to hold the fourth round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. Slated to open in late 2021, the fourth round aims to increase the capacity of renewable energy from the 5.8 GW achieved in the last round to up to 12 GW. The CfD scheme is the government’s primary method of supporting low-carbon electricity. It encourages investment in renewable energy by providing projects with a stable income, while protecting consumers from paying increased costs when electricity prices are high. The scheme is open to fixed offshore, floating and onshore wind energy as well as other renewable energy technologies.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here.

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UK wind energy breaks records

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