FACTBOX-Britain's power generation sources

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Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:55am BST 

 (Recasts, updates with installed capacity details)
 July 21 (Reuters) - Britain's electricity is generated from
a number of different sources, including coal, gas, and nuclear.
 The following shows the breakdown of power generation types
in the first quarter 2009 and first quarter 2008.
 Total UK electricity supply fell by 5.1 percent year on
year, mainly due to lower demand in the recession, and coal
overtook gas as the main fuel.
 

 UK POWER GENERATION SOURCES FIRST QUARTER 2009
 Coal                       38.1 percent
 Gas                        37.5 percent
 Nuclear                    15.6 percent
 Oil, renewables, and other 8.20 percent
 Net imports                0.60 percent
 

 Total supply              105,171 megawatts
 

 UK POWER GENERATION SOURCES FIRST QUARTER 2008
 Gas                        45.7 percent
 Coal                       32.3 percent
 Nuclear                    12.6 percent
 Oil, renewables, and other 7.10 percent
 Net imports                2.30 percent
 

 Total supply               109,915 megawatts
 

 (Source - Quarterly UK government Energy Statistics)
 

 

 GENERATION CAPACITY
 Total electricity generation capacity is estimated to peak
at 83.6 gigawatts in 2009/10, in Great Britain, including the
capacity to import from France.
 

 Total installed capacity is:
 Nuclear                     10,894 megawatts
 Combined Cycle Gas Turbine  28,428 MW
 Combined Heat and Power      2,326 MW
 Coal                        28,896 MW
 Open Cycle Gas Turbine         589 MW
 Oil                          3,636 MW
 Pump Storage Hydro           2,744 MW
 Hydro                        1,070 MW
 Wind                         2,896 MW
 Biopower                        45 MW
 Interconnector               2,068 MW
 

 Capacity in Britain could grow by as much as 31.3 percent,
or 26.6 GW, to 109.8 GW in 2015/16 if all planned power projects
are built, according to National Grid (NG.L).
 

 The following indicates the energy sources for new
electricity capacity if all submitted project applications are
completed.
 

 POWER INCREASE BY 2015/16 FROM 2009/10
 Gas-fired power stations  up 10.3 gigawatts (+12.3 percent)
 Onshore wind              up 5.8 gigawatts  (+6.9 percent)
 Offshore wind             up 5.3 gigawatts  (+6.3 percent)
 Coal-fired power stations up 3.3 gigawatts  (+4.0 percent)
 Import capacity           up 2.1 gigawatts  (+2.5 percent)
 Bio-fuel                  up 851 megawatts  (+1.0 percent)
 Hydro-power               up 56 megawatts   (+0.1 percent)
 Nuclear                 down 1.45 megawatts (-1.7 percent)
 (Source - National Grid Seven Year Statement 2009)
 (Compiled by Kwok W. Wan/Daniel Fineren)
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