On December 26, 2020, energy giant Drax proudly announced that wind power in Britain’s daily generated energy mix hit a record 50.67% amid Storm Bella, beating the previous record of 50% in August.
Drax Group tweeted:
For the first time ever, amid #StormBella, more than half of Great Britain’s electricity was generated by the wind. This is the first time ever wind has supplied the majority of the country’s power over the course of a whole day.
The excellent news comes ahead of the UN’s global climate change summit COP26, which will be held sometime this year in Glasgow.
The British government aims to have offshore wind farms delivering one-third of the country’s electricity by 2030 and has placed nuclear power at the core of its low-carbon energy program. These arrangements are all part of its ultimate goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 to meet its Paris climate commitments.
Drax added:
Britain has experienced a renewables revolution over the last decade with the growth of biomass, wind, and solar power.
On December 29, 2020, the National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (NGESO) division announced that this year was a record-breaking year for UK renewables.
NGESO said:
2020 was the greenest year on record for Britain’s electricity system, with average carbon intensity — the measure of CO2 emissions per unit of electricity consumed — reaching a new low.
The National Grid also added that on December 25, 2020, the UK electricity mix’s share of coal stood at zero for the first time, compared with 1.8% in 2019 and 20% in 2009.
