The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) today released its December 2015 energy statistics that allow a provisional assessment to be made of trends in energy production and consumption in 2015.
Low carbon energy production rose by 13.8%, with growth due to increased nuclear availability following outages towards the end of 2014, and boosted by strong growth from wind generation in 2015.
Primary energy production rose by 9% on a year earlier to 123.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent. This increase, the first since 1999, was due to rises in oil and gas output. Production of coal fell by 27%, to a record low, due to mine closures and other mines producing less coal as they come to the end of operation.
Energy production in 2015 was marginally above output levels of 2012.
Low carbon generation accounted for 42.9% of supply, up from 35.6% in 2014, boosted by higher generation from nuclear and renewables (wind, hydro and bioenergy).
Gas accounted for 31.3% of electricity supplied, up marginally from 30.9% in 2014, with coal accounting for 25.9% in 2015 down from 33.6% in 2014 as a result of reduced capacity due to a third unit at Drax being converted to biomass and an increase in the carbon price floor. Nuclear accounted for 23.0%, up from 20.5% in 2014 due to improved availability following outages towards the end of 2014.
A detailed analysis will be published on 31 March 2016.
Source: DECC