Renewables Overtake Other Power Sources In The UK For The First Quarter Of 2020

Renewable Energy – Claerwen Dam

According to a new study from industry analysts, renewables are responsible for the most
electricity than any other power source in the UK for the first quarter of 2020. In addition to this, the nationwide global lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic looks to have helped in part. When the data was analyzed it indicated that the novel coronavirus caused a reduction in energy demand. For example, Britain went into lockdown in the second half of March which led to renewables reaching parity with carbon-intensive energy sources.

According to a new study from industry analysts, renewables are responsible for the most
electricity than any other power source in the UK for the first quarter of 2020. In addition to this the nationwide global lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic looks to have helped in part. When the data was analysed it indicated that the novel coronavirus caused a reduction in energy demand. For example Britain went into lockdown in the second half of March which led to renewables reaching parity with carbon-intensive energy sources.

With the extreme weather conditions, the whole story was hard to figure out. However at the
same time nuclear-generated its smallest volume since Q3 in 2008, producing 12.2TWh in the
quarter as “the older reactors have been seeing increasing levels of downtime as they move
towards the end of their operational life”.

Though the exceptional conditions experienced by the UK during the first quarter of 2020
noticeably increased the use of renewables, recent trends were already showing that
renewables are becoming an increasingly commanding player in Britain’s power mix. The
continued build of offshore wind farms and the revival in the onshore wind should see these levels being brought about more often in the longer term.

This period has seen a continued decline in prices which is expected to continue in the second quarter as the effect of less economic activity is fully understood.

Paul Verrill said:

“The COVID-19 outbreak had only a slight impact on overall demand in Q1 as the ‘stay at home’ requirements only came into force towards the end of March. We expect a greater impact in Q2 – especially if the lockdown continues until the end of June. Demand for daily electricity generation dropped around 10% towards the end of Q1, as some offices and manufacturing plants shut down and fewer people traveled on public transport, but demand levels in the evening remained relatively stable as people still cooked their dinners and turned on the lights as normal. The reduction in prices in Q1 was in part driven by the growth in renewables, which reduces the demand for commodities such as gas and coal beyond their historic levels – at least within European markets.”

In April SSE Renewables asked for barriers to the deployment of offshore wind to be removed in order that it could become the backbone of the country’s net-zero energy system. If this action is not taken it may be impossible to achieve 40GW of offshore wind come the year 2030, putting the net-zero 2050 target at risk as well.