UK hits record high for clean electricity sources

RENEWABLES generated more than half of the UK's power for the first time in 2024 in a new record high for clean electricity sources.

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Official figures show wind, solar, hydro and biomass generated 50.4% of UK power last year, up from 46.5% in 2023, due to record high levels of wind and bioenergy power.

At the same time fossil fuels - mainly gas - fell to a record low share of 31.8% of generation, with Britain's last coal plant shutting in September 2024, the figures from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero show.

The share from low carbon sources, which includes nuclear as well as renewable sources rose to nearly two thirds of overall generation (64.7%), a new record high.

But gas remained the single biggest source of UK power, at 30.4%, still slightly outpacing wind’s contribution of 29.2% of generation - although that is likely to change as more wind farms come online.