UK DECC: Bioenergy production reached a record 29 terawatt hours in 2015

Source: U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change

May 11, 2016

BY Pellet Mill Magazine Staff

The U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change has released provisional energy data for 2015, reporting renewable electricity generation reached 83.3 terawatt hours (TWh) last year, up 29 percent from 2014, with bioenergy up 28 percent, reaching a record 29 TWh. Generation from plant biomass increased from 13.1 TWh in 2014 to 18.8 TWh in 2015, largely due to the full conversion of a third unit at Drax from coal to biomass.

Renewable electricity capacity was at 30 GW at the end of the year, up 22 percent, or 5.4 GW, when compared to 2014. Bioenergy capacity increased by 13.8 percent last year despite the closure of Ironbridge in November. Plant biomass accounted for 2.6 GW of capacity, with anaerobic digestion (AD) at 259 MW, non-AD animal biomass at 111 MW, energy-from-waste at 896 MW, sewage sludge digestion at 216 MW, and landfill gas at 1.06 GW.

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Of electricity generated last year, gas accounted for 30 percent, coal accounted for 23 percent, nuclear accounted for 21 percent and renewables accounted for a record 25 percent. Bioenergy accounted for 35 percent of the renewables share.

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