Renewables Could Surpass Fossil Fuels in Britain by 2020

The Walney Offshore Wind Farm, located 9 miles west of Walney Island in the Irish Sea, England.

The Walney Offshore Wind Farm, located 9 miles west of Walney Island in the Irish Sea, England. David Dixon / Wkimedia Commons

Britain will get more of its electricity from renewable energy sources than fossil fuels as early as next year, according to a new report from the energy analysts group EnAppSys. The transformation is being driven by a surge in offshore wind farms currently under construction or about to begin operating, CleanTechnica reported.

Coal- or gas-fired power stations generated 130.9 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in Britain in 2018, compared with 95.9 TWh from renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower. As new projects come online, renewable energy sources could generate 121.3 TWh of electricity by 2020, with fossil fuel generation falling to 105.6 TWh as coal plants retire, EnAppSys reported in its 2018 Market Review.

The United Kingdom has undergone a rapid transformation away from coal in the last few decades. In 1974, the country generated 80 percent of its electricity using coal. In 2016, that number dropped to 9 percent. And in April 2018, the British power grid went three days in a row without burning any coal. The UK is expected to shutter its remaining coal plants by 2025, if not sooner. Meanwhile, the country’s renewable energy capacity has more than quadrupled since 2010, jumping from 21.45 TWh to 95.88 TWh in 2018.

For more on Britain’s stunning energy transformation, click here.