British wind power hits new record as operator eyes zero carbon grid milestone

A new wind record has been set for Britain, with enough electricity generated from turbines to power 22 million homes, the system operator has said.

The record of 22,711 megawatts (MW) set at 7.30pm on November 11 beats the previous high for wind power generation of 22,253 MW set on December 18 2024, the National Energy System Operator (Neso) said.

At the time, as the country experienced windy conditions, particularly in the north of England and Scotland, wind was providing 43.6% of Great Britain’s electricity, enough to keep around three quarters of British homes powered, Neso said.

A further 12.1% of generation was coming from “embedded wind” which supplies power directly to local distribution networks rather than the high voltage transmission network, bringing the overall share from wind to 55.7%.

At the time the record was set, gas was providing 12.5% of generation, while 11.3% was coming from interconnectors with other countries, 8% from nuclear, 8% from biomass, 1.4% from hydro and 1.1% from storage.

Neso said Britain could hit another milestone in the months ahead by running the grid for a period entirely with zero carbon power, renewables and nuclear.

Kayte O’Neill, chief operating officer at Neso, said: “This is a world-beating record, showing that our national grid can run safely and securely on large quantities of renewables generated right here in Britain.

“We’ve come on leaps and bounds in wind generation in recent years. It really shows what is possible, and I look forward to seeing if we can hit another clean energy milestone in the months ahead: running Britain’s electricity grid entirely zero carbon.”

Wind power has become the largest source of electricity generation for the UK, helping reduce energy costs and fossil fuel use, Neso said.

The Government has set out its “clean power mission” to generate almost all of the UK’s electricity from low carbon sources by 2030, with a push to build more new wind farms, solar arrays and other clean energy technology.

Industry body RenewableUK’s deputy chief executive, Jane Cooper, said: “On a cold, dark November evening, wind was generating enough electricity to power 80% of British homes when we needed it most.

“This new record high period is another tangible example of wind taking its place at the heart of our clean energy system, as we transition away from the volatile prices of fossil fuels which caused the energy crisis.”

She urged the Government to strengthen the UK’s energy security even further by being more ambitious on the amount of capacity they will support in the next round of auctions, which will hand out contracts for new wind farms to receive an agreed price for the power they generate.

“This will enable us to create tens of thousands of new jobs, support the growth of supply chain companies and attract billions in private investment to the UK, as well as maintaining our place as a global leader in offshore wind,” she said.