Bank holiday Monday, 5th April 2021 was the greenest day Great Britain has ever seen, National Grid has confirmed. Over the bank holiday long-weekend we saw sunny and windy weather, this coupled with warm temperatures and lower than average demand meant renewable energy made up just under 80% of Britain’s generation mix.
Wind turbines accounted for 39% of the generation mix, solar generation accounted for 21% of the mix and UK nuclear reactors provided 16% of the UK generation stack. Gas accounted for 10% of the remaining stack which also included zero coal output.
Fall in Demand
UK electricity emissions have fallen sharply over the last twelve months due to significantly reduced demand from hotels, restaurants and office blocks which have remained largely closed since the Covid-19 pandemic began in February 2020.
Back in April 2020 Britain’s electricity demand fell by 20% when the first lockdown was implemented, National Grid confirmed UK electricity demand is still 5% lower than normal despite the phased re-opening of the economy.
Grid Transformation
The UK electricity grid is under-going transformation to phase out fossil-fuels and to increase the amount of clean, renewable power providing generation to the grid. National Grid is aiming to operate the UK system carbon free by 2025. Last year between April and June the UK saw 68 consecutive days of coal not being used to generate electricity in the UK.
Carbon free Business Gas and Electricity supplies
How does this impact me? One of the simplest and most cost-effective ways for businesses to reduce CO2 and deliver clear, tangible savings is through Green gas and electricity supply contracts. Green electricity supply contracts have been available to businesses for several years now and are often now cheaper than brown energy contracts. More suppliers are also now offering carbon-neutral gas supply contracts which include a zero uplift for Green gas certificates.
For more information on carbon-free gas and electricity supply contracts please contact hello@gleg.co.uk.