UK Wind Power Had Record-Breaking 2011

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The United Kingdom, racing toward a 2020 goal of 15 percent renewable energy, used less power in 2011 than in 2010, and an increasing proportion of what it did use came from renewables as wind power generation grew substantially.

Renewable electricity generation was 34.75 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2011, up 35 percent from 2010, according to a government report [PDF]. With a record-breaking December putting a punctuation mark on a blustery year, and increased capacity also contributing, offshore wind generation rose by 68 per cent and onshore wind spiked 46 percent higher.

image via UK DECC

More rain gave hydropower a big boost, too, pushing production 58 percent higher in 2011 compared with a year earlier.

Wind energy output powered the equivalent of a fifth of the U.K.’s homes in 2011, an increase by over a half from 2010, according to RenewableUK, Britain’s trade association for the wind, wave and tidal industries. The group noted that wind power capacity increased by over a gigawatt in 2011, and output rose by over 5.3 TWh to 15.5 TWh.

“While we can’t guarantee last year’s strong winds will be repeated, we’re already on course to install at least another gigawatt of wind capacity this year, ensuring that the share of electricity that we get from wind will continue to rise—while the carbon emissions from our electricity generation system go down,” said RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Maria McCaffery in a statement.

A deeper look at the renewable energy trends provided by the government [PDF] showed the role that high winds, particularly late in the year, played in driving up wind power generation.

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Posted on April 12th, 2012 · Comment ↓

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Posted in Renewable Energy, Wind Power

  • Alan Keighley

    Why is it that Renewable UK feel they always have to exaggerate so. Hydro energy has hardly risen at all over recent years, Much of that recorded by BM Reports relates to pumped storage – a simple matter of using off peak electricity to pump water from a lower reservoir to a higher one in order to release it when it might be needed to supply extra power, This is a form of recycling that hydro power and is very limited in either its useage or possible expansion. That leaves wind power and so called “carbon neutral ” or “bio-fuels”. These last – in the main – rely on burning wood – some of which has to be imported – instead of coal, and what seems to be forgotten here is that kilo for kilo and Kilowatt for Kilowatt, bio fuels used and burnt in this wat produce OVER TWICE as much CO2 as coal!!! Finally we come to Renewableuk’s real flagship – wind power, their statement makes it appear that wind power has made a massive difference to the U.K’s power supply when in fact in 2011 – which WAS a particularly windy year wind power produced an average of just 3.2% of our electricity. Please do not be taken in by RenewableUK’s figures, they are very deceptive.