The amount of electricity generated by wind farms across the UK was the highest on record in 2022, according to the latest Government figures.
According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, wind farms across the UK managed to generate 80.2 TWh of electricity, which is enough to meet the needs of approximately 22.8 million homes. That’s an increase of around 24% on 2021 figures, where wind power generated 64.7 TWh.
The record-breaking generation amount helped the UK reduce its need for fossil fuel energy sources, with wind power accounting for 24.6% of all electricity generated. Even more encouragingly, 41.4% was generated from pure renewables, while low carbon sources, which includes nuclear power, generated a record 56% of the UK’s electricity. Much of that came from offshore wind, which provided a total of 13.8% of the power needed, 45 TWh, up from 11.5% and 35.1 TWh in 2021.
It’s not too surprising to see the amount of wind generated from wind grow ever larger year-on-year, with new wind turbines coming online every year. In fact, in 2022, an additional 3,193 MW of new turbines were installed in British waters, while 318 MW of new onshore wind was also added.
Ana Musat, RenewableUK’s Executive Director of Policy, commented, “These record-breaking statistics show that wind is playing the leading role in Britain’s modern clean energy mix, keeping homes and businesses powered up using our superb natural resources.
“Wind is our cheapest source of power and every unit of electricity we generate from it means burning one less unit of fossil fuel. Wind is the key to cutting our dependence on expensive, volatile imported gas and reducing energy bills. But the international competition for investment in renewables is intense, so we’re urging the Government to make Britain the most attractive country for building new clean energy projects. This will enable us to create tens of thousands of jobs and attract billions in investment, as well as ensuring that we can move faster towards our climate change goals.”
