Government figures for the first quarter of 2012 have shown that the UK is producing more clean energy than ever before, with renewable sources accounting for over 11% of total generation. A massive 11.08TWh of renewable electricity was generated between January and March 2012 – 39% more than the same period in 2010.

All the major technologies have taken a leap forward in output. Electricity production from offshore wind has risen by 50% since 2010, onshore wind by 51%, hydro (helped along by heavy rainfall) by 43% and bioenergy by 21%. Marine power and microgeneration technologies, whilst still making up only a small proportion (0.17TWh) of the total, increased their output by an impressive 877%.

Energy Minister, Charles Hendry, commented: ‘Alongside a 36 per cent increase in renewables capacity in the last 12 months, this(report) shows that the UK is powering forward on clean and secure energy and is clearly a very attractive place to invest.’

Wilding says: ‘This is encouraging news. And although 27% of our electricity is still produced from gas and 42% from coal, these figures prove that the proportion of clean energy we’re generating is climbing steadily. This is good news for our environment and good news for the UK economy as we continue to invest in green technologies.’