The UK just set a new wind energy generation record - Electrek
The UK just set a new wind energy generation record | Electrek
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The UK, which felt the punch of Storm Pia today, set a new wind energy generation record in just a half hour this morning, according to National Grid Electricity System Operator data.
The wind energy generation record of 21.8 gigawatts (GW) of clean electricity was set between 8 and 8:30 a.m. this morning, in which wind power provided 56% of the UK’s electricity. This beats the previous record of 21.6 GW set on January 10, 2023.
Nonprofit renewable energy trade association RenewableUK‘s chief executive Dan McGrail said, “In the new year, the renewable energy industry will be working closely with the government to ensure that we maximize investment in new projects, most critically through the next auction for new clean energy projects, to lower everyone’s energy bills and get us to net zero as fast as possible.
“We’re calling for Ministers to be ambitious when they set out new parameters in March for next summer’s auction, which we hope will secure a record amount of new renewable energy capacity and boost jobs in the sector.”
Storm Pia brought high winds that knocked down trees and caused blackouts for tens of thousands of homes. In Northeast England, 40,000 households were without power, energy company Northern Powergrid said.
Read more: Here’s how wind farms in the US impact nearby home values
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.