U.K. Renewables Soar in 2012

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Renewable energy posted a record year in the U.K. for 2012 but CO2 emissions jumped also thanks to the increased burning of cheap coal imports in coal-fired power plants.

Electricity from renewable sources jumped by 20% in 2012, accounting for 11.3% of the total electricity demand compared to 9.4% in 2011. This represented an increase from 34.4 terawatt hours (TWh) to 41.1TWh. The surge in renewables was mostly attributed to strong growth in the offshore wind sector, where generating capacity jumped by 46% from 5.1 TWh in 2011 to 7.5 TWh in 2012. Onshore wind generation increased by 15% last year from 10.4 TWh to 11.9 TWh. At the end of the year, renewable electricity capacity stood at 15.500-megawatts (MW) a 26% jump on 2011.

However, despite the increase in renewable electricity generation, the U.K. saw its CO2 emissions rise for the year, from 553 million tonnes in 2011 to just under 572 million tonnes in 2012. The increase was attributed to the increase in the use of coal which saw its share in the electricity mix surge to 143TWh, up a third on the year previous. Cheap coal imports from the U.S. were at the heart of the surge which saw many energy companies opting to burn cheap coal over more expensive gas. As a result, U.K. gas-fired power generation fell by a third to just under 100TWh for the year. Nuclear's total generation in 2012 increased by just over 2% to 70.4TWh.

Bioenergy remained the single largest contributor to renewable energy in 2012, rising 17% from 13.0TWh in 2011 to a record 15.2TWh. Within that, generation from plant biomass more than doubled thanks to the opening of Tilbury power station at the end of 2011. It rose from 1.7TWh to 4.2 TWh. However, thanks to cheaper coal, generation from co-firing dropped by almost 40% as power plants used less biomass.

Power from solar photovoltaics (PV) remained the smallest contributor to the renewable energy mix at 3.2%, despite strong growth in 2012. Hydro generation fell by 8.1% in 2012, from 5.7TWh to 5.2TWh, thanks in part to lower rainfall levels. However, Glendoe, the U.K.'s newest, and second largest, hydropower plant came back online last August after being shut for three years following a rockfall. For additional information, see related news item from August 24, 2009 - Rockfall Shuts Down New Scottish Hydroelectric Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.