Renewables overtook fossil fuels as the main source of electricity in the UK in 2020, new analysis by climate and energy think tank Ember has revealed.
A record 42% of the UK’s electricity was generated by renewables in 2020, compared to 41% by fossil fuels.
Wind power was the main renewables generation source and for the first time, a quarter (24%) of the UK’s electricity was generated by wind turbines in 2020, doubling its share since 2015 and up from 20% in 2019.
For the last five years, Ember has published an annual report into the European power sector in conjunction with Agora Energiewende.
Its latest report compiles and analyses the full-year 2020 electricity generation of every EU-27 country and the UK.
With coal power already near zero, fossil gas was forced to a five-year low in 2020 by growth in wind power and below-average demand due to Covid-19, Ember said.
While wind showed “impressive growth”, solar and hydro were unchanged since last year, making up only 4% and 2% of the UK’s electricity production respectively.
This is the second year running that solar has remained stagnant, reflecting the lack of a supportive policy environment for the technology, stated Ember.
Bioenergy generated 12% of the UK’s electricity in 2020, posting slight growth since 2019.
Ember said, however, that bioenergy is a “much higher risk” source of renewable electricity – for both climate and environmental outcomes – than the other sources such as wind and solar, which will enable the UK to “stop burning wood for power”.
“While UK renewables production is dominated by wind, it still remains overly reliant on risky bioenergy, which must be replaced with cleaner power to fully decarbonise the UK grid,” Ember said.
The analysis also found that renewables also overtook fossil fuels in the EU-27 in 2020, as well as separately in Germany and Spain.