UK Hits Historic Clean Energy Milestone as Renewables Power Over Half the Grid in 2024

In a landmark shift for the UK’s energy system, government statistics have confirmed that renewable sources generated more than half of the country’s electricity in 2024. This marks a historic moment in the UK's energy transition, as clean power reached 50.4% of total electricity generation, a 4% rise from the previous year.

The figures were published in the latest Digest of UK Energy Statistics by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This annual report provides a comprehensive overview of how the country is evolving its energy mix and responding to its climate targets.

Fossil fuel generation hit a new low, accounting for just 31.8 per cent of total electricity output. Notably, 2024 was the first full year in which the UK generated zero electricity from coal. The closure of the last coal-fired plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, brought nearly six decades of coal use to a formal end.

Commenting on today’s statistics, RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Jane Cooper said: “As today’s record-breaking figures show, renewables now account for the majority of our electricity generation and stand firmly as the backbone of the UK’s energy system. This is good news for billpayers, as renewables provide electricity at stable prices. Now we need to make sure we don’t just continue to build new wind, solar, and nuclear plants, but we reform our electricity markets and grid so that billpayers can get maximum benefit from the clean energy rollout.

“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. Up to £53bn in private investment could be secured this year in new offshore wind projects alone.”

While gas remained the dominant fossil fuel, supplying 30.4 per cent of electricity, it only narrowly surpassed wind energy, which accounted for 29.2 per cent. Earlier this year, the National Energy System Operator suggested that wind had taken the top spot, but the government’s official data tells a slightly different story.

Still, wind was the UK’s largest renewable source, delivering a remarkable 58 per cent of the clean power mix. Offshore wind in particular had a record-setting year, generating 17 per cent of all electricity, a slight increase from the previous year. Onshore wind also grew steadily, rising to 12.2 per cent. Solar contributed 5 per cent of the electricity total, while nuclear power provided 14.25 per cent, equivalent to over 40 terawatt-hours.

Overall energy demand increased slightly compared to 2023, though it has not yet returned to the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Warmer weather and ongoing concerns about energy costs have kept consumption relatively subdued.

Household energy use rose by 4 per cent, while transport consumption grew by 3 per cent. Industrial energy use, on the other hand, dropped by 1 per cent and is now at its lowest point since the 1950s. This decline reflects ongoing improvements in industrial energy efficiency.

Transport activity is still lagging behind its pre-pandemic baseline, down 4 per cent overall. However, aviation fuel demand is bucking the trend. It surged nearly 10 per cent and now sits just above pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, domestic oil production fell by 8.8 per cent and gas production dropped by 10 per cent — both reaching record lows for the 21st century. Since peaking in 1999, the UK’s oil and gas output has declined by 75%. Compared to 2019, production is now 34% lower.

The UK remains heavily reliant on imported energy. In 2024, the country’s net energy dependency rose to 43.7 per cent, up by more than 3 per cent from the previous year. Interestingly, gas imports fell by 8.4 per cent, marking the lowest level since 2008. Imports of liquefied natural gas declined sharply, dropping 47 per cent, while crude oil imports jumped by 7.6 per cent, the highest since 2019.

These official findings closely match early estimates published by Carbon Brief, which projected that renewables accounted for 45% of the UK's electricity mix last year. The growth was primarily powered by offshore wind and solar, which continue to form the backbone of the country's clean energy strategy.

According to the data, wind accounted for 26 per cent of the electricity mix, second only to gas, which supplied 28 per cent. Solar delivered 4 per cent.

Carbon Brief stated that the power sector has “already been transformed over the past decade” but that delivering the Government’s clean power by 2030 target will be a “very significant challenge”.

Looking ahead, the UK has set an ambitious target. By 2030, 95% of electricity generation is expected to come from a combination of renewable sources, nuclear power, and biomass. A small amount, just 5 per cent, will be left to gas peaker plants, which serve as backup during demand surges.

On the same day this data was released, the Scottish Government approved the construction of the Berwick Bank offshore wind farm. With a capacity of 4.1 gigawatts, the project is expected to generate up to 11.2 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. That’s enough to power roughly 17 per cent of households across the country.

This approval reinforces the UK’s national commitment to reach between 43 and 50 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade. It is a bold yet necessary step toward reducing dependence on fossil fuels and hitting net-zero emissions targets.