Record output levels has pushed wind past hydro as the biggest source of renewable electricity generation in Europe, according to energy analyst EnAppSys.
Wind overtook hydro – historically the largest source of renewable electricity generation in Europe – for the second quarter in a row, the company’s latest report has found.
According to the study, which covers the first three months of this year, while overall renewable output declined 8% due to a significant fall in hydro generation, wind output hit a record high of 105.4 terawatt hours (TWh).
From its historical monitoring data EnAppSys has found that on and offshore wind generation has risen by 57% since the first quarter of 2015.
In the first quarter of 2019 the 104.7TWh produced from hydro was down 25% from the previous year and 7% from the levels in the first quarter of 2015, with relatively limited capacity being built out across Europe, according to the analyst.
Solar plants produced 27.9TWh in the first quarter of 2019, up 14% from the first quarter of 2018 and up 53% from the levels recorded in the first quarter of 2015.
According to the report in the first quarter of 2019, nuclear accounted for 29% of overall generation across Europe, gas plants generated 17%, while coal/lignite produced 16%, and hydro and wind each produced 15%.
A further 4% came from solar, 3% from biomass and the remaining 1% from oil, peat and waste. The figures are based upon the reporting of fuel mix through Entsoe.
The EnAppSys report found that in the first three months of this year, rising carbon costs and coal plant closures across Europe resulted in gas-fired power generation overtaking output from other forms of fossil fuels for the first time in recent history.
While gas plants produced 117TWh of electricity in the first quarter of 2019, generation from coal, lignite and gas-to-coal plants totalled 110.9TWh.