UK: 27 Pct More Renewable Electricity, Report Says

Renewable energy is powering forward in the UK, according to the 2012 update to the Renewable Energy Roadmap published by Energy Secretary Edward Davey.

Significant progress has been made on the rollout of renewable energy across the United Kingdom from July 2011 to July 2012, including:

•  A 27 per cent increase in overall renewable electricity generated;
• A 40 per cent increase over the same period in renewable electricity capacity. Now over 10 per cent of all electricity generated is coming from renewables;
• A 60 per cent increase of offshore wind capacity to 2.5 gigawatts, and;
• A five-fold increase in solar PV capacity.

The Roadmap shows that the UK is on track to meeting our first interim target on the way to the ambitious European target to source 15% of all energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Edward Davey, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said:

 “Renewable energy is increasingly powering the UK’s grid, and the economy too.

 “It’s a fantastic achievement that more than ten percent of our power now comes from renewables, given the point from which we started.

 “Right now, getting new infrastructure investment into the economy is crucial to driving growth and supporting jobs across the country. I am determined that we get ahead in the global race on renewables and build on the big-money investments we’ve seen this year”.

John Hayes, Minister of State for Energy, said:

 “Energy is crucial to our economic well-being, bringing in major investment and supporting jobs across the country.

 “I firmly believe that a diverse energy mix is the best way to ensure our energy security. It is extremely encouraging that we have made such positive steps on renewable energy as part of that mix.”

The Roadmap also shows that in the last year the costs of many renewable technologies have fallen. For example, the cost of solar PV has fallen by 50%, with the technology now identified as a key technology in the Roadmap update.

[mappress]

Press release, December 27, 2012; Image: decc