On the 5th of March Drax announced that it had ceased commercial power generation from coal[1]after 47 years at the UK’s largest power station.
This leaves just two coal power stations operating in Britain, as 85% of the country’s coal fleet have retired over the last ten years.
Meanwhile, biomass power stations reached new records, generating 3.81 GW on 27th of March. Biomass output is likely to grow further, as a new biomass-powered combined heat and power unit at Teesside is expected to come online later this year.
Global leadership
Currently, biomass supplies 2% of the world’s electricity, though this share is higher in Europe, having grown five-fold since 2000 to hit 6% in 2020.[2] One explanation for this comes from countries such as Denmark and Sweden, which have extensive municipal electricity and combined heat and power production.
Another reason is the UK. Our share of electricity generation from biomass has tripled over the past decade, hitting an all-time high of 11% in 2020[2]. This means the UK has the highest share of electricity production from biomass of any large country (ones with over 100 TWh/year electricity demand).
The UK pioneered large-scale use of biomass for electricity generation, contributing to its world-leading success in decarbonising electricity over the last decade. This position means the UK has also played a major part in developing the science-led sustainability criteria that govern the use of biomass - link - more like this (Sweden) - link
No comments:
Post a Comment