Wind overtakes gas in powering Britain for the first time

Britain’s growing fleet of wind turbines generated more electricity than gas-fired power stations for the first time in the first three months of 2023.

The findings have been released by Drax Electric Insights ahead of its quarterly report. 

The publication is an independent report by academics from Imperial College London, UK.

Almost a third (32.4%) of Britain’s electricity was supplied from wind power during the first quarter of 2023, outpacing gas which delivered 31.7%. It is the first time wind has provided the largest share of power in any quarter in the history of the country’s electricity grid.

Across the three months, Britain’s turbines generated 24TWh of electricity – enough to charge more than 300 million Tesla Model Ys. Output from wind was 3% higher than during the same quarter last year, while gas was down by 5%.

Almost 42% of Britain’s electricity came from renewable sources (wind, solar, biomass, and hydro) in the first three months of 2023. Fossil fuels supplied 33%, with the rest coming from imports from abroad and the country’s shrinking nuclear fleet.

Dr Iain Staffell of Imperial College London, and lead author of the quarterly Drax Electric Insights report series, says, “In the space of a decade, the UK has almost completely cut out coal...There are still many hurdles to reaching a completely fossil fuel-free grid, but wind out supplying gas for the first time is a genuine milestone event, and shows what can be achieved when governments create a good environment for investors in clean technology.”