A record 22.3% of electricity was generated by renewables such as wind, biomass and solar in the first three months of this year, figures show.
The share of UK power coming from renewables was 2.6 percentage points up on the first quarter of last year, and slightly higher than in the previous three months, the data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) revealed.
The total amount of electricity generated by renewables increased by 15% for the first three months of the year compared to the same period last year, with biomass power plants almost doubling their output.
Electricity from solar panels was up 60% on the first quarter last year, due to more installations, while wind generation increased by 5.3%, with more turbines installed – particularly offshore – offsetting slightly lower wind speeds than in January to March 2014.
Overall, low-carbon power accounted for more than two-fifths (41.4%) of total UK electricity generation in the first three months of 2015, with nuclear up from 17.6% of the mix in the beginning of 2014 to 19% this year.
Coal fired generation fell from 37% in January to March 2014 to less than a third (31.3%) for the first three months of this year, while gas was up from 23.2% to a quarter (25%) in 2015.
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