Solar power generates 25pc of UK electricity for the first time

SOLAR power generation blazed to a new record ahead of the Spring Bank Holiday, making up a quarter of the electricity mix yesterday afternoon.

The nation’s solar panels passed the previous record set last month by generating 8.7GW of power, more than nuclear and coal power combined.

Solar power was the second most used generating technology behind gas-fired power and made up around 25pc of the UK’S electricity, its highest ever share of the market on a working week day.

The UK now has just over 12GW of solar power in place, the same production capacity as eight new-generation nuclear reactors.

Paul Barwell, the chief executive of the Solar Trade Association, said: “This is a colossal achievement in just five years, and sends a very positive message to the UK that solar has a strong place in the decarbonisation of the UK energy sector.”

The boom in solar panels in recent years, driven by subsidies, has far exceeded expectations. The panels feed the power they produce into homes or the local electricity grid, cutting demand on the national system to what is expected to be a record low this year.

National Grid said the renewable generation boom posed a challenge to its role balancing supply and demand on the national transmission network second by second.

Duncan Burt, who is responsible for National Grid’s control room, said the ability to forecast weather patterns was becoming more significant.

“We have a team of forecasters who monitor a range of data, to forecast how much electricity will be needed over a set period,” he said. “We have planned for these changes to the energy landscape and have the tools available to ensure we can balance supply and demand. It really is the beginning of a new era.”

The Government closed off funding for solar projects through its Renewables Obligation scheme in April 2015, allowing a modest grace period for some developers to roll out new sites until April last year. This helped the boom to continue ahead of last summer, but there is now expected to be a lull in new projects for a year or two.

Jamie Stewart, a senior power expert at market data provider Icis, said however that this would give way to a renewed surge in new solar projects because plummeting costs mean it will no longer need government handouts. “When this grid parity is reached, the UK can expect to see a lot more solar power put in place up and down the country,” he said.

Abid Kazim, of Nextenergy Capital, said on Thursday at an industry event that he planned to invest in subsidyfree solar because the cost of the technology was “collapsing”.

“In energy price terms, solar is lowcost and mostly produces cheap electricity during peak demand hours from 07:00-19:00. This means at peak times it keeps down wholesale power prices, which make up around 45pc of a household bill,” Mr Stewart said.

8 The number of new-generation nuclear reactors that would be needed to match the 12GW of solar power capacity in place