New UK Wind Power Record

2015 proved to be a record year for wind power in the UK, with wind farms supplying enough energy to power 8.25 million homes, over 30% of the nation.

Wind energy also contributed to a huge 11% of the UK’s annual commercial electricity demand last year, an increase of 1.5% from 2014.

In December 2015 wind power delivered 17% of Britain’s energy requirements, far exceeding the previous record of 14% set in January.

Christmas week also saw a large amount of wind power generation, with 20% of the nation’s electricity demand being handled by wind power alone, up from 19% in the second week of November.

The last quarter also produced a new record of 13% supply, beating the record of 12% set in the first quarter of 2015.

The split between onshore and offshore was relatively even, with 5.8% of the UK electricity supply in 2015 coming from onshore, and 5.2% coming from offshore.

In total, around 21% of the UK’s energy came from renewable sources in 2015.

“This is a great way to start the new year – the wind industry can be proud that it has shattered weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual generation records in 2015,” said RenewableUK’s Director of Policy, Dr Gordon Edge. “This re-writes the record books. We’ve had a bumper harvest thanks to increased deployment and superb wind speeds.”

“It also demonstrates why the Government should continue to support wind energy, as we’re delivering on our commitment to keep Britain powered up. We can continue to increase the proportion of the nation’s electricity which we provide as we move away from fossil fuels to clean sources of power,” he added.

Onshore wind developers are set to construct at least 1.2 gigawatts of new capacity in 2016, enough to supply power to 660,000 homes.