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Shortly before the turn of the year, the time had come: Storm Bella gave Great Britain a record.

On December 26th, more than half of the electricity between Cornwall and the Scottish Highlands was generated from wind power for the first time.

According to data from the electricity supplier Drax, it was 50.67 percent.

But the fact that the British are rushing ahead with the energy transition is not just because they are wind world champions.

For years, renewable energies have played an increasingly important role in the island's energy mix.

Above all, they almost completely displaced coal.

In the first half of 2020 alone, the country completely stopped a third of the remaining coal-fired power generation.

With impressive results: In 2012, fossil fuels were responsible for 43 percent of electricity, but now it is less than two percent.

In terms of the amount of coal used, the country burns less today than it did in 1882, when the first coal-fired power plant went online.

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"Britain has cleared its electricity system of carbon emissions almost twice as fast as other large economies, in which it has sixfold renewable energy sources and drastically cut the use of coal," say analysts from Drax Electric Insights.

Within a decade, carbon intensity fell by 58 percent, from 450 grams per kilowatt hour of electricity to 195 grams.

That is more than twice as good a result as other economies that have also made good progress in reducing this ratio, including the US, Germany, Australia and China.

"2020 was a record year for the UK's electricity system," said Rob Rome, Head of National Control Systems at National Grid, the Guardian.

"The grid continues to change at astonishing speed as we use more and more renewable energy sources."

Emissions trading as a recipe for success

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Last December, the country's wind farms had already set a record for the amount of electricity produced with 17.3 gigawatts.

In April, a peak was reached for solar power.

For weeks between April and June, due to the favorable weather conditions, no coal was used to generate electricity, and in May more renewable energy was used than ever before.

Time and again, Great Britain has become a pioneer and has relied on incentives through the price of coal.

In 2002, the country set up the first emissions trading system, which became the prototype of the EU system.

A decade later, a floor price was set for emissions from power plants, which has made coal relatively more expensive than other energy sources.

In preparation for the Paris climate agreement, the country finally ordered the total phase-out of coal-fired power generation in England, Scotland and Wales within a decade.

Gas still plays an important role

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But even if coal has been pushed back almost completely, the British government is far from reaching its goal.

Fossil fuels, mainly gas, continue to play a major role.

On average, this accounted for 36 percent in 2020, according to data from the network operator National Grid.

However, that was ten percentage points less than in 2019. Gas is also still very important in the country for heat.

The goal is clearly set.

In the summer of 2019, the government legislated zero net emissions by 2050.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented a ten-point plan for a “green industrial revolution” in November and in this context announced that he would make the country the “Saudi Arabia of the wind”.

The capacity of offshore wind turbines is to be quadrupled to 40 gigawatts by 2030 - the huge parks off the coasts already account for around half of the total capacity.

Every household in the kingdom should then be supplied by wind power.

Wind and solar energy currently make up 29 percent of the electricity mix.

In the previous year it was 23 percent.

Problems with financing new nuclear power plants

Of the ten largest offshore wind farms in the world, eight are already in British waters, the other two off the North Sea coasts of the Netherlands and Germany.

The front runner is Hornsea, off the Yorkshire coast.

The expansion of the current capacity from 1.2 gigawatts to six gigawatts has already been approved and is in preparation.

Hundreds of wind turbines are also turning off the coasts of Scotland and Wales and in the English Channel.

Nuclear power is progressing less rapidly than the expansion of wind energy, officially another important pillar in the British energy mix.

This accounted for 17 percent last year, six percentage points less than five years earlier.

A large part of the power plants from the 1960s and 70s are reaching the end of their service life.

They will be shut down by 2030 at the latest.

The planned replacement investments are making slow progress.

In September, the Japanese supplier Hitachi finally said goodbye to power plant plans in Wylfa Newydd in Wales with reference to a lack of financing options.

The Japanese are also not pursuing a second project in Oldbury, England.

Research on mini reactors

Only one new power plant, Hinkley Point in Somerset, is currently under construction, led by EDF from France with the participation of China General Nuclear (CGN).

The government is currently negotiating with EDF about another power plant, Sizewell in Sussex.

But more and more Conservative MPs are now questioning the model of cooperation with the Chinese nuclear company that was also being considered.

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Despite these obstacles, the government considers nuclear power to be central to an emission-free energy mix.

In addition to the large nuclear power plants, the state is also promoting research into mini-reactors.

Because despite the expansion of the wind farms off the coast: Occasionally the wind is not enough off the island to supply the country with electricity.

The remaining coal-fired power plants had to be fired up three times in autumn to ensure the power supply on lull days.

But this problem is also being worked on.

In September, construction began on a capacitor in Wales, which is expected to help offset peaks in demand in the grid from the end of 2021.

Hitachi puts UK nuclear power plans on hold

Hitachi's British nuclear power subsidiary, Horizon, said the projects had failed because they couldn't agree on funding.

The planned Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant in Anglesey, North Wales, has therefore now been put on hold.

Source: WORLD