Wind farms provided almost a quarter of Britain’s electricity during record-breaking 2022
Both onshore and offshore turbines sent records tumbling once again last year as low carbon sources provided 56 per cent of power mix in 2022
Wind power records continue to tumble in the UK with fresh government figures showing onshore and offshore wind farms generated almost a quarter of Britain’s electricity in 2022, providing enough to meet the needs of around 22.8 million homes.
The figures, published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero last week, revealed that wind power generated an “all time annual high” of 24.6 per cent – 80.2 terawatt hours (TWh) – of Britain’s electricity last year, rising several percentage points from 21 per cent – or 64.7TWh – in 2021.
Largely driven by an increase in capacity, offshore wind farms alone provided a record 13.8 per cent of domestic power last year – or 45.0TWh – marking an 11.5 per cent increase on the previous year, the figures show.
And, despite the ongoing planning block on new onshore turbines in England, onshore wind farms also generated a record amount of electricity in 2022, providing 10.8 per cent of the power mix.
According to the figures, 3.2GW of new offshore wind power capacity was added in British waters last year, while just 318MW of new onshore wind capacity came online.
Overall, renewables produced 41.4 per cent – or 134.8TWh – of the country’s electricity throughout 2022, the figures show. Taking both renewables and nuclear together, it means low carbon power sources provided a record 56 per cent of the country’s power last year.
RenewableUK’s executive director of policy, Ana Musat, hailed the latest renewables record as a key to boosting the UK’s energy security and driving down the cost of energy bills.
“These record-breaking statistics show that wind is playing the leading role in Britain’s modern clean energy mix, keeping homes and businesses powered up using our superb natural resources,” she said. “Wind is our cheapest source of power and every unit of electricity we generate from it means burning one less unit of fossil fuel. Wind is the key to cutting our dependence on expensive, volatile imported gas and reducing energy bills.”
However, Musat warned that the international competition for investment in renewables was becoming increasingly intense, as she urged the government to make Britain the “most attractive country” for building new clean energy projects.
“This will enable us to create tens of thousands of jobs and attract billions in investment, as well as ensuring that we can move faster towards our climate change goals,” she added.
The UK has set a flurry of wind related records of late, with blustery conditions at the beginning of the year prompting onshore and offshore wind farms to collectively deliver an all-time high of 21.6GW of power to the grid in January. Records were also set by the wind sector at the end of last year when the UK’s wind turbines collectively generated 20.9GW of power for the grid.
