National Grid is moving closer to its ambition of zero carbon operations by 2025 after last year saw several key milestones hit.
In its wrap-up of how electricity was generated in Britain in 2023, it outlined how while gas provided most of the country’s electricity mix (32%) last year, use of zero carbon electricity is growing. Actual use of gas was at its lowest level since 2015, with December marking the fifteenth consecutive month where zero carbon generation produced more than fossil fuel generation.
Wind generation accounted for 29.4% of the mix and achieved a new maximum record of generation of 21.8GW on 21 December – breaking the previous record, also set last year, of 21.6GW on 10 January.
Zero carbon power supplied over 50% of electricity in January, July and October and hit a record of 87.6% on 4 January. Nuclear (14.2%), biomass (5%) and solar (4.9%) all playing a part in the mix, with solar hitting its highest ever level of supply of 10.971GW on 20 April. In contrast, coal accounted for just 1% of the country’s electricity mix in 2023 and use of fossil fuels hit a new low of 1,503MW of generation in December. A new record minimum carbon intensity of 27gCO2/kWh was also achieved last year as well.
