Nearly half of Wales’ electricity
consumption in 2017 came from renewable sources, a new report has
revealed.
Last year the equivalent of 48% of the country’s electricity, a
rise from 43% in 2016, came from renewable sources as the country
edges towards ambitious targets for clean energy by
2030.
The Energy Generation in Wales 2017 report showed that Wales
generated more than twice what it consumed in electricity last
year, making Wales a significant exporter of electricity to
England, Ireland and the wider European
network.
The report, published ahead of a debate in plenary today
(Tuesday, 20 November), also showed that:
- 22% of electricity generated was from renewable sources, up
from 18% in 2016;
- There are more than 67,000 renewable energy projects in Wales
with a combined capacity of almost 3,700 MW. 84% of this capacity
is renewable electricity, 16% is renewable heat capacity;
- Approximately 66% of renewable electricity generated in Wales
comes from wind;
- Wales produces approximately 2.1 TWh of useable renewable
heat, equivalent to 10.5% of Welsh domestic heat demand;
- There are over 63,000 locally owned renewable energy
projects, with a total capacity of 750 MW. This is a 30% increase
in capacity from 2016;
- Wales now has 529MW of renewable electricity capacity in
local ownership, against a target of 1 GW by 2030.
In September last year, the Cabinet
Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs announced she wanted Wales
to generate 70 per cent of its electricity consumption from
renewable sources by 2030. The Cabinet Secretary also set an
ambitious target for 1GW of locally owned renewable electricity,
and an expectation that all new renewable energy projects should
have at least an element of local ownership by
2020.
The Welsh Government is supporting a number
of projects through our Welsh Government Energy Service to in a
bid to drive more locally owned energy developments. For
example, Gower Regeneration’s 1 MW solar farm at Dunvant is
Wales’ first community owned solar farm, whilst the Garreg Llwyd
Hill wind farm in Radnorshire can provide electricity for the
equivalent of approximately 26,000 homes and provides a
significant community benefit fund.
Cabinet Secretary said: “I am
delighted that Wales is continuing to towards our ambitious
renewable energy targets and this report shows the impressive
progress over the last year.
“With nearly half of our electricity
consumption coming from renewable sources, as well as us being
over half of the way to meeting our target for renewable
electricity capacity in local ownership, we are seeing the huge
steps made by the sector.
“As a government we are committed to
accelerating the transition of our energy system in Wales,
particularly through the increased use of renewable energy.
Our priorities are to increase energy efficiency, reduce
our reliance on energy generated from fossil fuels and to
actively manage the transition to a low carbon economy to benefit
Wales.”
Notes to
editors
Approximately 22% of total electricity
generated in Wales is from renewables.
This generation is the equivalent of 48% of
electricity consumed in Wales annually, a five percentage point
increase compared to 2016.
