DBEIS releases 2016 Digest of U.K. Energy Statistics

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, formerly known as the Department of Energy and Climate Change, recently released the Digest of U.K. Energy Statistics 2016 with the supplemental publications—U.K. Energy in Brief, Energy Flow Chart and Energy Consumption in the U.K. The literature provides a detailed analysis of production, transformation and consumption of energy in 2015.

The comprehensive account of energy supply and demand in the U.K. provided in the DUKES publication includes tables and charts, with a majority covering the last five years. The digest’s first chapter covers overall energy statistics, energy balances and estimated value of fuel purchases in aggregate. Other chapters cover the individual fuels and particular topics, such as renewable sources of energy and combined-heat-and-power (CHP).

Key points highlighted in the report include the increase of primary energy production, final energy consumption and electricity generation from renewable sources. Primary energy production increased 9.6 percent compared to a year earlier. This is the first increase since 1999, according to DBEIS as output of oil and gas from the U.K. Continental Shelf were both up. Low-carbon sources, including nuclear, wind, solar photovoltaics and bioenergy all grew strong, while coal output was at a record low.

Final energy consumption increased 0.4 percent due to the cooler weather experienced in 2015 compared to 2014. On a temperature-adjusted basis, final energy consumption was down 0.8 percent, continuing the downward trend of the last 10 years. There was an increased use of bioenergy in all sectors except transport.

Electricity generated from renewable sources during 2015 in the U.K. rose 29 percent from 2014, and accounted for 25 percent (83.6 TWh) of total U.K. electricity generation, an increase from 19.1 percent in 2014. The category of “other bioenergy” showed the largest increase at 6.7 TWh (30 percent), mostly from biomass.

Installed electrical generating capacity of renewable sources increased by 23 percent or 5.7 GW to 30.5 GW in 2015, mainly due to high deployment of large-scale capacity of solar photovoltaic under the Renewable Obligation that resulted in a 69 percent increase (3.8 GW) in this category. Bioenergy capacity increased by 14.8 percent (0.7 GW), with new and converted capacity, mainly due to a third unit at Drax exceeding reductions.

In 2015, bioenergy accounted for 71 percent of renewable energy sources used. Renewables accounted for 16.7 million metric tons of oil equivalent of priority energy, of which, 12.1 million metric tons was used to generate electricity, 3.5 million metric tons was used for heat, and 1 million metric tons for road transport. Renewable energy grew by 20 percent between 2014 and 2015, currently over six and a half times the level it was at in 2000.

Total renewables measured by the 2009 EU Renewables Directive accounted for 8.3 percent of energy consumption in 2015, an increase from 7.1 percent in 2014. Also, in 2015, CHP capacity stood at 5,692 MW, a decrease of 202 MW from 2014.

Last year, Biomass Magazine reported on U.K. DECC’s release of the DUKES 2015 publication.

The full Digest of U.K. Energy Statistics 2016 is available here.

The U.K. Energy in Brief is available here.

The Energy Flow Chart is available here.