RenewableUK has welcomed new official government statistics published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showing that renewable electricity generation was 12.4 TWh in 2013 Q1, an increase of 10% on the same period the previous year.
Overall renewables provided 12.3% of power in 2013 Q1, an increase of 1% from the same period the previous year. Wind provided the lion’s share of this with 52% of renewable electricity generated coming from on and offshore wind. Wind generation increased by 29% with offshore wind generation increasing by 68%.
Maf Smith, deputy chief executive of RenewableUK, said: “It’s good news that wind is generating more of our power, insulating us from price shocks from imported energy, reducing our carbon emissions, creating jobs and benefitting local communities. These figures show just how much wind energy does for us – last year it created enough power for the equivalent of 4.59m homes.”
DECC also released a summary of 2012 figures which showed electricity generated by renewables was 19% higher than in 2011, due largely to increased wind generation with offshore generation up 46% and onshore up by 17%.
