- Renewables this winter have saved
gas equivalent to cooking over 2 billion Christmas dinners
New analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit’s
(ECIU) Winter Power Tracker has found that between the 1st
October and the end of Christmas day, power generated by wind,
hydro and solar is likely to reach 25TWh (terawatt hours).
Generating this power using gas power stations instead would have
required 50TWh more gas – the equivalent needed to heat about 5.5
million homes this winter, or cooking 2-3 billion Christmas
dinners. [1]
With concerns over gas supplies this winter, more renewable power
generation means less gas needs to be sourced and paid for, and
the UK can keep its gas storage topped up. This also creates
export opportunities to supply Europe when their demand is high
and the UK has a power surplus.
Renewable generation by the end of Christmas day is likely to
displace the equivalent of around a fifth (17%) of UK annual gas
demand and 12% of UK net gas imports, 15% of what we import via
pipelines or 58 LNG shipments. [2]
Jess Ralston, Head of Energy at ECIU, said:
“Every swoop of a wind turbine blade means less expensive gas
needed to be burnt in a power station, bringing down the price we
all pay for our electricity. More gas is used when wind speeds
are lower, but overall we’re using less gas thanks to renewables.
Plus, large scale batteries are increasingly playing this back-up
role, further cutting the UK’s gas dependency.”
By the end of New Year’s Eve, renewable generation will likely
reach 28TWh, displacing around 56TWh of gas generation, over 6
million homes winter gas demand or 64 LNG tankers. If wind speeds
remain strong, this could be an under-estimation.
Other sources of generation, including nuclear and biomass are
expected to generate around 16TWh in this period – using gas
power plants instead would require 31TWh more gas, equivalent to
4% of annual UK gas demand.
Current stand-by gas power plants, used when other power stations
develop faults or operate at lower capacities, are being rapidly
replaced by new technologies. For example, battery storage
capacity is up five-fold from last winter, currently standing at
to 2.5GW (equivalent to around two of the nuclear power station
Sizewell B) [3]. The pipeline of battery storage projects has
doubled between 2021 and 2022, already exceeding National Grid’s
expectations for 2035 [4]. The UK’s pumped hydro storage capacity
is set to rise by 130% to 6.5GW. [5]
As the UK uses gas for around 40% of power generation and 85% of
home heating, we have a higher gas dependency than any country in
Europe. As a result of this, and the fact we have the least
efficient housing stock in western Europe, the Government
recently launched the ‘It All Adds Up’ campaign to encourage gas
demand reduction. [6]
Renewables are also limiting electricity wholesale costs, partly
by displacing expensive gas power plants that would otherwise set
higher prices, and partly through Contracts for Difference CfDs
that paid back about £700 million in the year from Q4 2021 to Q3
2022 and are forecast to pay back a further £1.4 billion by the
end of Q1 2023, so reducing bills. [7]
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The ECIU’s Winter Power Tracker can
be found here: www.eciu.net/winter-power-tracker.
Note: that ‘winter’ is defined in the energy sector as the six
months of October to March. Assumptions for Christmas dinner
calculation: 4 hours of using a 2-3W oven.
- Gas consumption data from DUKES
Chapter 4 (BEIS, 2022): https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digest-of-uk-energy-statistics-dukes
- Sizewell B has a capacity of 1.2GW:
https://www.energylivenews.com/2022/04/11/edf-looks-at-extending-operational-life-of-sizewell-b/
- Renewable UK: https://www.renewableuk.com/news/601862/Pipeline-of-UK-energy-storage-projects-doubles-within-12-months.htm
- Pumped hydro storage in BEIS’
Renewable Energy Planning Database:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract
- It All Adds Up, HM Government:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/small-changes-mean-energy-advice-campaign-adds-up-to-big-savings
- CfD payments and forecasts are from
the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) CfD dashboards, as of 9
November 2022: https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/index.php/dashboards/cfd
