Plant Operation

UK Nuclear Generation Sees Slight Fall, But Load Factor Remains Highest

By David Dalton
27 July 2018

27 Jul (NucNet): Nuclear generation in the UK decreased by 1.9% from 71.7 TWh to 70.3 TWh in 2017 due to a slight increase in outages, but nuclear contributed to 41% of overall low-carbon power, new government statistics show.

The Digest of UK Energy Statistics, or Dukes, said nuclear generation accounted for 20.8% of generation, broadly stable on 2016 when it was 21.1%.

It said nuclear stations had the highest plant load factor at 77.4%, which was 0.8 percentage points lower than that in 2016 due to more maintenance outages

The growth in renewable generation was a major trend in 2017. Renewable generation increased by 19.5% in 2017 compared to 2016, the result of weather conditions and capacity.

Low-carbon sources of electricity accounted for a record 50.1% of power generated in the UK in 2017. This is up from 45.6% the previous year, marking “significant progress in reducing carbon emissions from the production of electricity”, the Dukes report said.

This consists of 21% from nuclear, 14.8% wind (onshore and offshore), 3.4% solar and 2.3% hydro. Nuclear remained the highest single source of low-carbon power.

Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the UK Nuclear Industry Association, said the statistics have highlighted the continued vital role nuclear plays as part of the UK low -carbon generation mix.

He said: “Investment in new nuclear infrastructure is recognised as an integral part of the future mix in the UK government’s nuclear sector deal, particularly as all but one of our current fleet will retire by 2030.”

The Dukes report is online: https://bit.ly/2K57dtA

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