- Renewable energy accounted for 50.4% of the UK’s electricity generation in 2024
- In 2023 it made up 46.4% of electricity generation
- Wind energy is the UK’s largest clean power source, producing 83.3TWh in 2024
More than half of the UK’s electricity came from renewable sources last year for the first time ever, according to new government data.
Recently published statistics in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) show that renewables accounted for 50.4% of the UK’s electricity in 2024 , up from 46.4% in 2023.
Fossil fuels, on the other hand, provided just 31.8%, down from 36.7% the previous year. This success means that renewable energy has outdone fossil fuels for the fourth time in five years.
In total, clean technology, such as solar panels and heat pumps, produced 143.7 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2024, surpassing the previous record of 135.8TWh in 2023. Fossil fuel generation continued its downward trend, falling to 90.5TWh.
Growth in offshore wind and solar generation capacity have been credited for the rise. Solar power provided 5% of electricity (14.4TWh), while nuclear energy accounted for 14.25% (40.6TWh).
The data also unveiled that the share of generation from low-carbon sources (both renewables and nuclear) rose to 64.7% in 2024, up from 60.3% the year before, amounting to 184.3TWh.
What is the best performing clean energy source?
Wind energy is still the UK’s largest clean power source, contributing a record 29.2% of electricity last year (83.3TWh), narrowly beating 2023’s previous record of 28.1%. It also accounted for 58% of all renewable electricity, with offshore wind responsible for 17% (48.5TWh) and onshore wind generating 12.2% (34.7TWh), both of which are new records.
Deputy chief executive of RenewableUK, Jane Cooper, said the data confirms that “renewables now account for the majority of our electricity generation and stand firmly as the backbone of the UK’s energy system”.
Cooper described the numbers as “good news” for billpayers as renewables “provide electricity at stable prices”.
She called for reform of the electricity markets and grid to make sure billpayers can get “maximum benefit” from clean energy, claiming the UK should now try to bring in more investment into its green transition.
“We have a golden opportunity to build on this historic milestone by attracting record levels of investment in wind and solar farms in this year’s clean energy auction, which will open next week,” Cooper said, before claiming that “up to £53bn” in private investment could be secured this year in new offshore wind projects alone.
