UK renewable electricity capacity stood at 33.4GW at the end of the third quarter of 2016, up 11.3% on the same period last year, according to government figures. Most of the increase was down to new large-scale solar installed in the first quarter of this year, the government said. Renewables share of electricity generation reached 25% in the third quarter of 2016, up from 23.6% in the same period last year. Some 18.8 terrawatt hours (TWh) of electricity was generated during the quarter, an increase of 0.7TWh on last year. Solar output increased 30% compared with the same period last year to 3.5TWh from 2.7TWh. Onshore wind grew by 19.4% to 4.6TWh, while offshore output was up 3.8% to 3.5TWh. The government said the increase was due to increased onshore capacity and higher wind speeds. However, bioenergy output fell to 6.1TWh in the quarter from 7.1TWh last year because of maintenance outages at Drax’s converted biomass units, the government said.
UK renewables capacity hit 33.4 GW at the end of Q3 2016 — up 11.3% year on year. Government figures say this is mostly down to new large-scale solar installations built on Q1 of this year — solar output increased by 30% during the year, to 3.5 terawatt hours (TWh) from 2.7 TWh. Renewable share of energy generation reached 25% at the same point, and 18.8 TWh were generated during the quarter. Onshore wind grew by 19.4% to 4.6 TWh, while offshore wind grew 3.8%. Bioenergy, however, fell in output to 6.1 TWh from 7.1 TWh last year, due largely to scheduled outages at Drax’s converted biomass units.