Utility Week

24 | FEBRUARY 2023 | UTILITY WEEK Generation Analysis How we generated electricity in Great Britain in 2022 With another year over, the National Grid ESO looks back at how electricity was generated and used across 2022, and some of the notable events seen through the year. W e've seen a number of records bro- ken across the year as various con- ditions aligned to deliver new rsts in wind generation and total zero-carbon generation. Notable records include: • The rst time wind generation provided more than 20GW of electricity. • The lowest carbon intensity month since records began (February 2022: 126 gCO2/ kWh average). • Greenest day on record (52 gCO2/kWh on 28 December). • Second-greenest year on record. First placed is 2020. Below we've set out how electricity has been used over the year. Over the past 12 months gas has contin- ued to play an important role in providing most of the electricity used in Great Britain, but there have been signi cant changes across other technologies over 2022. Electricity from wind turbines has contin- ued to grow in its importance to the opera- tion of the national network. In November 2022, more than 20GW of electricity was pro- duced by wind for the rst time, representing over 70% of electricity generated on that day. Since then, this record has continued to tum- ble, with 30 December delivering the largest generation to date of 20.918GW. Across 2022 we've seen zero-carbon elec- tricity sources play an increasing role in delivering electricity, with over 50% of elec- tricity coming from these sources in Febru- ary, May, October, November and December. 2022 electricity generation mix Our growing use of zero-carbon electricity Zero-carbon sources continued to outper- form traditional fossil fuel generation over the past 12 months by providing 48.5% of the electricity used this year, compared with 40% from gas and coal power stations. The use of coal in our day-to-day energy mix has continued to decline, with coal responsible for only 1.5% of generation in 2022, illustrating the signi cant reduction that has taken place over the past 10 years; coal accounted for 43% of in 2012. Finally, electricity demand has also › uc- tuated in 2022, showing the variation in elec- tricity needs that are seen across the year, with electricity demand remaining at its low- est during the summer months, as longer, brighter days reduce the need to light or heat our homes.

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