In the UK December was the wettest month ever, but also biggest month ever for renewable energy. It was also exceptionally stormy which may have been bad news for many, but great news for the country’s wind power and hydro generators.
In fact, storms Desmond, Eva, and Frank meant that throughout December, more than 19 percent of Great Britain’s (not the UK’s—as Northern Ireland is not included in the underlying data) electrical energy came from wind, solar, and hydro combined. That’s the highest ever figure for a calendar month.
It was an exceptional end to an unusual year that saw several new records set within Britain’s power sector as the transition from dirty to clean energy continued. Here are a few of the most notable outcomes.
Record breaking renewables
Wind, solar, and hydro—the weather-dependent renewables—together generated 14.6 percent of Great Britain’s electrical energy in 2015, the highest ever annual amount. Wind stormed (literally) past the 2014 record to break through the 10 percent milestone. Solar more than doubled to 2.5 percent.
The weather-dependent renewables of wind, solar, and hydro peaked at 22 percent of Britain’s electrical energy generation over the week of Christmas (the grey line in week 52 on the chart above)—another record.
June saw the highest ever daily percentage of solar generation, peaking on Sunday June 7 at 8.9 percent—another new record.
The previous day, June 6, was both sunny and windy, which meant at 2pm solar, wind, and hydro were generating more than 40 percent of British electricity. Coal may also have dropped to a record low at the same point.
