RO delivers 69.1TWh in UK

Power stations accredited under the Renewables Obligation (RO) generated 69.1 terrawatt hours (TWh) or 23.4% of UK electricity between April 2015 and the end of March 2016, according to an Ofgem E-Serve report.

The percentage figure rises to 25.2% if installations covered by feed-in tariffs (FiT) are also included, the ‘RO Annual Report for 2015-16′ said.

A total of 6724 generating stations were accredited under the RO, a small increase on the 6658 accredited in 2014-15, bringing the total to 20,789 stations with capacity of 25.5GW, the report said.

Some 6308 of the new stations accredited were microgenerators in Northern Ireland, over 99% of which were domestic solar installations, said Ofgem E-Serve, the delivery arm of energy regulator Ofgem.

Solar accounted for 58.2% of the more than 2GW of new power stations accredited, it added.

Ofgem said 90.4 million RO Certificates (ROCs) were issued – more than the total UK supplier obligation of 84.4 million ROCs.

Accredited power stations are awarded ROCs based on the amount of renewable electricity they generate. The ROCs can then be sold directly to energy suppliers or to other third parties.

Suppliers submit ROCs to Ofgem E-Serve as proof that they have met obligations under the RO to source a proportion of power from renewables.

Technologies accredited under the scheme include onshore and offshore wind, solar photovoltaic, biomass and biogas, Ofgem said.

The RO is closed to new solar PV generating capacity across Great Britain and new onshore wind across the UK and will close to all other technologies at the end of March, it added.

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