Wind Sails past Hydro Power as U.K. Energy Source

BOTTOM LINE WEATHER POINTS
– U.K. boosts its renewable energy usage from 4.6% in 2006 to 5% in 2007.
– Wind farms credited by the British government for reducing carbon emissions.
– Domestic coal production fell due to lower demand from electricity generators.

For the first time in history, wind power has surpassed hydro-electric power production in the United Kingdom, with five percent of its power coming from renewable energy sources. This included government data indicating that power generators were depending more on gas and less on coal and nuclear output.

Wind farms are credited with feeding clean electricity into the network which is helping to cut the country's carbon emissions. Despite rising gas prices in the latter half of last year, gas was still more profitable than coal for power generators to burn and its share of Britain's supply jumped from 36 percent in 2006 to 43 percent, according to Reuters.

"For the first time generation from wind exceeded generation from hydro and became the largest renewables technology in terms of electricity generated," the industry ministry said in its annual energy statistics published last week.

Britain's gas production fell for the seventh consecutive year, down 10 percent in 2007, and imports exceeded exports for the third year in a row.

Despite rising gas prices in the latter half of last year, gas was still more profitable than coal for power generators to burn and its share of Britain's supply jumped from 36 percent in 2006 to 43 percent, the government said.

Domestic coal production fell 6 percent, while imports fell by 13 percent from a record high in 2006, because of lower demand from electricity generators.

Nuclear power's contribution to Britain's power supply shrank to 15 percent, its lowest level since 1987, because of lengthy maintenance and repair work at many of the country's ageing nuclear power plants.

A 27-percent increase in installed wind power capacity helped boost green energy output and make up for some of the loss in carbon-free electricity from the nuclear sector.