Britain Achieves the ‘Unthinkable’ as Renewables Leapfrog Fossil Fuel Capacity

Britain’s electricity grid hit a "major milestone," as its total renewable electricity capacity leapfrogged fossil fuels for the first time, experts revealed Tuesday. The total available capacity from wind , solar , biomass , hydro and other renewables reached a record 42 gigawatts between July and September, overtaking the 40.6 gigawatts available from fossil fuels, according to a report commissioned by Drax’s Electric Insights and produced by Imperial College London researchers. Such an achievement "would have been unthinkable just a few years ago," Iain Staffell of Imperial College London wrote about the new findings. Over the past five years, the capacity from renewables has tripled while a third of fossil fuel generating capacity has retired, the Electric Insights report said. Here are some other key findings of the report: Wind farms provide the biggest share of renewable capacity on the system, with more than 20 gigawatts available. Solar comes in second providing more than 13 gigawatts. Biomass is third, with 3.2 gigawatts. The rollout of renewables has also eclipsed the so-called "dash for gas" in the 1990s, Staffell noted . An average of 3.8 gigawatts of new renewable capacity was added in Britain each year, compared to 2.4 gigawatts […]

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