Wind power record demonstrates ‘triumph of fact over fiction’

The record, set between Thursday 9:30pm and continuing into Friday March 22, came during one of the coldest March days on record and while gas prices were at a seven year high.

For a 24 hour period wind was generating enough energy to power the equivalent of nearly 4 out of every 10 UK homes and consistently more than 10% of the UK’s overall electricity needs.

In addition, a record for one-off generation in a half hour period was created at 15:30 when 5.296GW of wind was present on the grid, alongside another anticipated 2GW from distributed wind.

RenewableUK chief executive Maria McCaffery said: “What this shows is that wind is a stable and reliable source of power generation on the scale we need, when we need it most. This then counters the idea that wind does not generate power during cold snaps and comes at the same time as reports that the UK has only 36 hours of gas supplies in reserve.”

“It also serves as a timely reminder of the vulnerability of supply and the price volatility of imported fossil fuels. This power production coupled with Ofgem’s own figures, announced on Thursday, which showed the real cost of wind to households is less than 20p a week is a double triumph of fact over fiction.”

Conor McGlone