NOTE: Full details of this years figures may be found in the the September 2009 edition of Energy Trends.
There were 879 sites in England generating electricity from renewable sources, compared with 384 in Scotland, 127 in Wales and 116 in Northern Ireland.
In capacity terms Scotland had the capacity to generate 28% more electricity from renewable sources than England (Chart
3). This was because of Scotland’s considerable hydro resources (89% of the UK’s total hydro capacity). Hydro accounted for 52% of generation from renewables in Scotland (Chart 5).
Because biofuels-based
capacity was used more intensively
than hydro, which is subject to seasonal variation
of precipitation in the catchment area, generation
from renewables in England was over 15% higher than
Scotland.
In England the number of sites varies from 16 in London to 144 in the North West (Chart
2). In capacity terms the East has the greatest ability to generate, followed by the North West and the South East (Chart
4). In the East, 58% of this capacity is from wind with almost two thirds of this from three large offshore wind farms. In the North West, 63% of renewable sources capacity is from wind (more than 50% from two offshore wind farms) and in the South East, 25% is from wind (primarily from one large offshore wind farm). In the East region the predominant technologies tend to be those that have large capacity plants; 21% of the UK’s landfill gas capacity and 14% of the UK’s capacity to generate from other biofuels and wastes are to be found in East region. The North West has 18% of the UK’s landfill gas capacity whilst the South East (16% of the UK’s landfill gas capacity and 16% of the UK’s other biofuels and wastes capacity) are other English regions with notably large shares. The East, North West and the South East regions together accounted for 55% of UK generation from landfill gas.
Scotland had 50% of the capacity to generate from wind and produced 47% of the output (Chart
3 and Chart
5). The East of England was the next largest (12% of capacity but only 8% of generation) followed by Wales (11% of the capacity and 14% of the output), the North West of England (10% of capacity and 12% of generation) and Northern Ireland (6% of capacity and 8% output) (Chart
3, Charts 4, Chart
5 and Chart 6).
A map of wind farm capacities in
the UK at the end of 2008 is now available on the Map
Pages of this site.
88% of the generation from other biofuels (including biofuels used for co-firing) took place in England with Yorkshire and the Humber (23%) the largest, followed by the East (12%) and the West Midlands, South East and East Midlands (9% each). Excluding biofuels used for co-firing, (which cannot be allocated to regions), the West Midlands, together with the South East, both have the largest capacities to generate from biofuels (16% each of the UK total) followed by the East of England (14%) and London (13%).
In terms of total renewables generating capacity, Scotland (+665 MWe), the East (+232 MWe), North West (+67 MWe) and South East (+41 MWe) have shown considerable growth in the most recent year. This growth has primarily come from wind; Scotland (+558 MWe), the East (+225 MWe) and the North West (+65 MWe) but for Scotland, 105 MWe of growth was from Hydro and in the South East, 45 MWe was from Other Biofuels.
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Comparison
with economic activity
Charts 3, 4, 5 and 6 do not take into account the level of economic activity in each country or region. However this can be readily measured in terms of workplace based Gross
Value Added (GVA). Chart
7 show that Scotland not only has the largest generating capacity from renewables, it is the largest in terms of capacity per unit of GVA and generation per unit of GVA. Looking at these two measures, on aggregate England was below the UK average, whilst Wales and Northern Ireland (as well as Scotland) were above. Among the English regions the East is highest in generating capacity per unit of GVA terms followed by North West then the North East. In terms of Generation/GVA, East is followed by Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West and closely by the North East. Note that co-firing capacity has not been allocated to individual regions.
Comparison
with 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007
Between 2003 and 2008 there was a 104% increase in generation from renewables in the UK, but faster rates of growth were recorded in Northern Ireland (489%), Scotland (141%), North East (139%), Yorkshire and the Humber (123%), East Midlands (119%), North West (117%) and Wales (112%) (Chart 8 and Chart 9). For the individual technology groups some very large increases are recorded in percentage terms because in 2003 there was very little use of some of the technologies in various regions. For example wind generation in the East Midlands in 2008 was nearly 140 times its low level in 2003. In Northern Ireland the substantial growth was from low levels in 2003 for wind, hydro and biofuels. The apparent absence of growth in London is mainly due to the suppression, before 2008, of wind generation data for disclosure reasons.
The South East of England became the leading English region in generation from renewables in 2006 not only through the expansion in offshore wind, but also through increased co-firing of biomass with fossil fuels at two of its power stations. At the same time a reduction in the co-firing of biomass led to generation from renewables in Yorkshire and the Humber and in the North East and the West Midlands showing a fall between 2005 and 2006. However, in 2007 a reduction in the co-firing of biomass in the South East saw that region’s generation from renewables fall back behind the East and North West regions. 2008 saw further reductions in co-firing which resulted in the decreases in generation for the South West and the West Midlands.
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Notes
to following Tables:
Solar photovoltaics have
not been included in the tables below because they are estimated
on a UK-wide basis that cannot readily be broken down into
regional components. In total solar PV amounts to only 22.5
MWe capacity and 17.0 GWh of generation.
Components may
not add exactly to totals because of rounding.
Instead the data are included under Other sites (see
note 2).
... Data cannot be shown because of the small number of sites providing information
for these cells.
- Nil or less than half the final digit shown.
1 At the end of December 2008.
2 18 of these sites are sites that co-fire renewables with fossil fuels (see also note 4, below).
3 This is the proportion of non-fossil fuelled capacity used for co-firing of renewables based on the proportion of generation accounted for by the renewable source. This estimate has not been disaggregated into region values
4 Includes biofuels co-fired with fossil fuels.
Comparison
with 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 installed capacity figures
Notes to following Tables:
Components may not add exactly to totals because
of rounding
... Data cannot be shown because of the small number of sites
providing information for these cells. Instead the data are
included under Other sites (see
note 1).
- Nil or less than half the final digit shown.
1 “Other sites”are sites that have not been attributed to a region
so that data related to individual companies are not disclosed.
2 This is the proportion of non-fossil fuelled capacity used for co-firing
of renewables based on the proportion of generation accounted for by the renewable
source. This estimate has not been disaggregated into region values because
to do so could disclose data that relate to individual companies.
3Includes biofuels co-fired with fossil fuels.
Comparison
with 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 generation figures
Comparison
with economic activity, 2008
GVA is provisional gross value added in 2006 (workplace based) as published here
2 Excludes capacity attributable
to co-firing of biomass which has not been allocated to regions
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