2015 was a record-breaking year for the British wind industry, with onshore and offshore farms providing a larger-than-ever share of the UK's electricity, according to new data released today by National Grid.
Last year the UK generated 11 per cent of its electricity from wind, up from 9.5 per cent in 2014. Wind turbines provided enough electricity to power 8.25 million homes, representing more 30 per cent of UK households, according to analysis of the data by trade body RenewableUK.
The confirmation of an annual wind energy share record for the sector follows a series of renewable energy records during 2015, with the end of year seeing a slew of records broken for quarterly, monthly and weekly generation.
In the three months between October and December 2015, 13 per cent of the UK's electricity demand was met by wind, beating the previous 12 per cent record set in the first quarter of 2015.
Meanwhile, December also saw a new monthly record set, with wind supplying 17 per cent of Britain's electricity demand - beating the previous monthly record of 14 per cent set in January 2015. A particularly windy Christmas week also set a new seven-day wind generation record in December, with wind meeting 20 per cent of the UK's electricity demand.
Gordon Edge, director of policy for RenewableUK, said the figures were a "great start" to the new year for the industry.
"It demonstrates why the government should continue to support wind energy, as we're delivering on our commitment to keep Britain powered up," he added. "We can continue to increase the proportion of the nation's electricity which we provide as we move away from fossil fuels to clean sources of power."
The wind industry is predicting a busy 2016 as a host of onshore and offshore projects move forward. However, RenewableUK is also concerned that in the longer term a raft of onshore projects could be shelved, after the government announced last year it would effectively halt support for the sector.
The announcement of the new record came just a couple of days after influential energy blogger Chris Goodall published new analysis which suggested renewables' share of the power mix rose 31 per cent during 2015.
Renewables produced 18.2 per cent of all UK electricity during 2015, up from 13.9 per cent in 2014, Goodall said. Wind and solar generation hit a record 40 per cent for a few hours in June and even overtook coal generation during the windy month of December, he added.
Meanwhile, the percentage of the UK's electricity supplied by gas, oil and coal fell from 58.7 per cent to 52.1 per cent between 2014 and 2015, according to Goodall's analysis, with coal's share of electricity generation dropping from 30.9 per cent to 24.3 per cent.
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