The British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has released new consolidated statistics for renewable energy.
Renewable power capacity rose by nearly 14% in 2017 to 40.5 GW, thanks to a surge in wind capacity (+18% for onshore wind to 12.8 GW and +32% for offshore wind to 7 GW) and in solar PV capacity (+7.3% to 12.8 GW). Capacities continued to increase in the first quarter of 2018, by 5.3% (compared with the first quarter of 2017) for solar PV, by 11% for onshore wind and by 37% for offshore wind.
Renewable power generation rose by 19% in 2017 (+40% for onshore wind, +27% for offshore wind and +11% for solar PV) and grew by 10% in the first quarter of 2018 (compared with the same period of 2017): +27% for onshore wind, +53% for offshore wind but -8.3% for solar PV.
Overall, renewable energies accounted for 30% of power generation in the first quarter of 2018, up from 24.6% in 2016 and 29.3% in 2017. Where biofuel consumption is concerned, consumption was stable (-1.2%) in 2017 but increased by 30% in the first quarter of 2018 (compared with the first quarter of 2017); bioethanol represented 46% of this consumption and biodiesel 54%.