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A record amount of energy from renewable sources was generated in the UK in 2022, according to new research. The researchers found that 40% of the UK’s electricity was made up of solar, wind, biomass and hydropower last year, an increase of 5% from 2021. However, the report also found that the production of energy from fossil fuels increased in that time due to phasing out oil and gas imports from Russia.

Dr Staffell who was the lead author of the report said he hoped increased investment in clean energy technologies could help the UK become “Europe’s renewable electricity powerhouse”, cutting energy bills and boosting the economy by exporting power to neighbouring countries. The latest report suggests this trend has already begun, with Britain becoming a net exporter of electricity for the first time in more than a decade. Exporting an estimated 1.9TWh of electricity in 2022 generated more than £3 billion for the UK economy, according to the report.

2022 was a year like no other for the energy industry

The energy crisis meant that 2022 was a year like no other for the energy industry with record-high energy prices even though renewables are providing the grid with more cheap, green electricity than ever before.

A lesson to take away from 2022 is that we need to move away from volatile fossil fuels once and for all if we want lower cost, more secure energy supplies. Rather than relying on imported fuel, the UK needs to generate more of its own power from renewable sources and transition away from gas boilers to heat pumps.

The increase in power from renewable sources in Britain resulted in a lowering of carbon dioxide emissions by almost three million tons compared to 2021, a press release from Drax said. Power from renewables has also gone up by more than four times in the past ten years. At one point in May of last year, 72.8% of the grid’s power came from renewable sources.

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