The amount of electricity generated by UK wind farms – both onshore and offshore – has seen a huge increase in recent months. On 29 November 2013, the National Grid announced that wind energy surpassed the 6GW generation mark for the first time ever. For 30 minutes on that day, UK turbines produced an average of 6,004MW – enough to provide 13.5% of the country’s total electricity demand or power 3.41 million homes.

The previous record of 5,739MW was actually broken several times on 29 November, proving that UK wind farms have what it takes to provide a consistent supply of energy to a sizeable proportion of the population.

Offshore wind in particular is going from strength to strength. In the 12 months from July 2012 to June 2013, UK offshore wind capacity increased by a massive 79%, boosted by the launch of four major wind farms, including Wilding projects London Array and Greater Gabbard.

Other key statistics included in the latest report from RenewableUK include:

• Total wind capacity grew by 40% from 6,856MW to 9,710MW in these 12 months
• New offshore wind projects overtook onshore installations for the first time
• Offshore wind now has a total capacity of 3,321MW, compared to 1,858MW in 2012
• This new capacity alone has contributed £2 billion to the economy and the UK wind industry now employs 16,500 people full-time.

Wilding says: ‘Great news for the UK wind energy sector and solid proof that renewables can and do work – both as part of the generation mix and as an economically viable industry.’

Sources: Blomberg and RenewableUK