2015 a record year for UK clean and renewable electricity

According to UK Government data, 46 per cent of the UK’s electricity came from clean energy and a quarter from renewables, last year.

In 2015, 22 per cent of electricity was from coal, compared to 30 per cent in 2014, gas accounted for 30 per cent of energy, and nuclear power contributed with 21 per cent – 2 per cent more than the previous year.

Renewables - wind, solar farms, hydroelectric dams and biomass – reached 25 per cent of UK’s electricity generation, helped by the increase in wind turbines and solar panels recent installations, as well as a more rain last year which boosted hydropower.

Change has started to be made from coal to biomass notably at the UK’s biggest coal-fired power station, Drax, in North Yorkshire, and polluting coal-fired power stations are to be phased out by 2025 according to Government’s plans, if new gas plants can be built to replace them.

Industry body Renewable UK’s deputy chief executive, Maf Smith, said: “The Government took the right decision when it announced the phasing out of coal... Now we can see renewable energy filling the gap, replacing old technology with new. 2015 was the first year that renewables outperformed coal.”

He added: “A quarter of Britain’s power is now coming from wind, wave and tidal power and other renewable energy sources... Renewables are now part of our energy mainstream, helping us modernise the way we keep the lights on by building new infrastructure for the generations to come.”

UK’s target under EU rules is to reach 15 per cent of renewables by 2020 for all energy – power, heating, transport and electricity – and the percentage was at 8.3 per cent last year.