UK wind energy hits record, bringing relief to power prices

UK wind energy hits record, bringing relief to power prices

High generation is attributed to not only strong winter winds but also the opening of new wind farms.

LONDON:
UK wind farms produced a record amount of energy today, helping to ease the country’s dependence on expensive fossil fuels in the short-term.

Wind generation rose as high as 14,822 megawatts, surpassing the previous record of 14,286 megawatts set in May 2021, according to data from National Grid.

Higher wind speeds will bring temporary relief to UK power prices. Surging natural gas prices are pushing up electricity costs which are feeding into bills for millions of households. Power for delivery today fell to £150.59 per megawatt-hour, the lowest level since Jan 3 on the N2EX exchange.

Wind power, in particular offshore, is the cornerstone of Britain’s net-zero plan, and it’s the second-biggest market in the world for the technology. The nation has plans to quadruple its capacity of wind farms at sea by the end this decade.

Earlier this month Scotland awarded seabed rights for more than twice the size of the UK’s current capacity.

The high amount of generation today wasn’t just due to strong winter winds, but also because of new offshore wind farms that started operating last year. As more projects come online, including the world’s largest offshore wind farm that’s being developed off the east coast of England, the country’s output will increase further.

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