Blog Post
UK and EU break coal-free electricity records during Coronavirus lockdown
Matt Olney • Apr 29, 2020
The UK has gone coal-free for a record-breaking stretch and the EU has seen coal use tumble as energy usage across Europe continues to fall during the Covid-19 lockdown.
20% reduction in electricity demand
According to the National Grid, the UK’s coal power plants were switched off at 11.45 pm on April 9th and have not been turned on again since.
This means that the UK went coal-free for 18 days. The main cause for this is due to the 20% drop in demand for electricity because of the lock down.
A recently released report from Carbon Brief shows that overall CO2 emissions created by the nation’s electricity system have declined by a third on a year-on-year basis.
Renewable Energy increase
The report also shows that renewable sources of electricity have stepped up to become the biggest source of electricity, supplying 37%, another 32% comes from gas and 22% was provided by nuclear power stations.
9% was imported from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.
The decline in coal use has happened quickly due to increased pressures from climate and environmentalist groups.
In 2012, coal supplied 43% of the total for the UK. In 2016, the UK went a full coal-free day for the first time since 1882. Under a year later, the grid went a full 24 hours with no coal usage and the first full week of no coal use occurred in May 2019.
Read more:
UK Energy Mix – The Types of production
Sharp decline across the EU
Total electricity demand from across the European Union has fallen to levels not seen since the Second World War says Finnish energy supplier Wärtsilä.
Carbon emissions across the continent have also tumbled by 20% compared on a year-on-year basis. The decline comes as industrial areas remain closed down because of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Like the UK, coal usage across the EU was also down to record lows with a 29% reduction recorded last month. Coal only contributed 12% to total energy production.
“The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on European energy systems is extraordinary. We are seeing levels of renewable electricity that some people believed would cause systems to collapse, yet they haven’t – in fact, they are coping well. The question is, what does this mean for the future?
“What we can see today is how our energy systems cope with much more renewable power-knowledge that will be invaluable to accelerate the energy transition. We are making this new platform freely available to support the energy industry to adapt and use the momentum this tragic crisis has created to deliver a better, cleaner energy system, faster,” said Björn Ullbro, Vice President for Europe & Africa at Wärtsilä Energy Business.
Further Reading
Daily Domestic energy usage spikes by 30% at midday, but overall energy usage is down
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