United Kingdom energy report

• The government intends to phase out coal by 2024 and reduce its GHG emissions by 68% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
• The power market is dominated by EDF and the gas market by Centrica, but their market share is weakening.
• Gas-fired generation dominates the power mix (41% in 2019). The share of wind increased from 3% to 20% between 2010 and 2019, while the share of coal decreased from 28% to 2%.
• The country is a net importer of crude oil and gas.
• The country introduced a cap on the default tariff for gas and electricity in 2019.
• Energy consumption has decreased by almost 2%/year since 2006.
• Coal consumption dropped by more than 85% over 2012-2019.
• The government plans to raise offshore wind capacity to 40 GW by 2030.
• A planning application for the 2.2 GW Bradwell B nuclear plant is expected to be submitted in 2022.
• There are 13 power interconnection projects under development, totalling 10 GW.

• Institutions & Energy Policy

  TheDepartment for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) oversees energy and climate change policy.

  The gas and electricity sectors are regulated by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), except in Northern Ireland where the Utility Regulator oversees these markets.

• Energy Supply

  Resources:

  The UK has large oil and gas reserves, mainly located in the North Sea: 506 Mt for crude oil and 276 bcm for gas (at end-2019) that are declining rapidly (640 Mt and 1 200 bcm, respectively in 2000). Shale gas reserves have been estimated at 39 900 bcm by the British Geological Survey (BGS), with 37 600 bcm in the Bowland Shale and 2 300 bcm in the Weald Basin.

• Energy Prices

  Oil:

  The price of motor fuels remained stable in 2019, after a 10% increase between 2016 and 2018, due to the rebound in crude oil prices. Over the first semester of 2020, gasoline and diesel prices decreased by 8-9%.

  In 2019, the gasoline price was in line with the EU average, while that of diesel was 11% above the EU average.

• Energy Consumption

  Consumption per capita has shrunk by almost a third since 2000, bringing it to 2.5 toe in 2019. Electricity consumption per capita dropped by more than 20%, from 5 800 kWh in 2000 to 4 500 kWh in 2019.

  Total energy consumption has been decreasing by almost 2%/year since 2006 to 170 Mtoe in 2019.

  Graph: CONSUMPTION TRENDS BY ENERGY SOURCE (Mtoe)

• Issues & Prospects

  According to the Sixth Carbon Budget (for 2033-37), outlined in December 2020, total GHG emissions would shrink by 6.1%/year on average over 2020-2035.

• GENERAL OVERVIEW
• INSTITUTIONS AND ENERGY POLICY
• ENERGY SUPPLY
• ENERGY PRICES
• ENERGY CONSUMPTION
• ISSUES AND PROSPECTS
• DATA TABLES
• ABBREVIATIONS
• GLOSSARY

Download the Table of Contents

Below is a list of the United Kingdom energy market report graphs:

• GRAPH 1: CO₂-energy emissions (MtCO₂)
• GRAPH 2: Installed electric capacity by source (2019, %)
• GRAPH 3: Gross power production by source (TWh)
• GRAPH 4: Power generation by source (2019, %)
• GRAPH 5: Gasoline & diesel prices (€/l)
• GRAPH 6: Electricity prices for industry and households (€c/kWh)
• GRAPH 7: Gas prices for industry and households (€c/kWh GCV)
• GRAPH 8: Consumption trends by energy source (Mtoe)
• GRAPH 9: Total consumption market share by energy (2019, %)
• GRAPH 10: Final consumption market share by sector (2019, %)
• GRAPH 11: Oil consumption (Mt)
• GRAPH 12: Petroleum products consumption breakdown by sector (2019, %)
• GRAPH 13: Electricity consumption (TWh)
• GRAPH 14: Electricity consumption breakdown by sector (2019, %)
• GRAPH 15: Natural gas consumption (bcm)
• GRAPH 16: Gas consumption breakdown by sector (2019, %)
• GRAPH 17: Coal consumption (Mt)
• GRAPH 18: Coal consumption breakdown by sector (2019, %)

In the United Kingdom energy market report you will find the following tables:

• Economic Indicators: Annual historical data including population, GDP growth, imports and exports, inflation rate, energy security and efficiency indicators, CO₂ emissions.
• Supply Indicators: Historical data including oil and gas reserves, electric and refining capacity, energy production, power production and external trade. All are detailed by energy source.
• Demand Indicators: Historical data including consumption per inhabitant, consumption trends, total consumption by energy source, final consumption by energy source and sector, and electricity consumption by sector.
• Energy Balances: Single table displaying the overall energy industry balance per annum, also graphically displayed by energy sub-segment.
• Infrastructure Projects: Covers power plant projects by energy, technology, status and operator, gas plant projects by status and operator and LNG contracts.

The United Kingdom country dashboards are complemented with country forecasts from EnerFuture (excel file) with scenario comparison.

Data included in the excelsheet:

• Demand: Primary energy consumption, final energy consumption, by fuel, by sector.
• Power: Electricity generation & capacities, by technology.
• CO₂: Total CO₂ emissions.
• Macro-economy: Main macro-economic assumptions.
• Key indicators: Energy intensity, share of renewables, CO₂ emissions per capita and per unit of GDP.