The UK's Energy Mix 2024: Progress, Challenges, and What Lies Ahead
The makeup of the UK's energy generation has undergone notable changes in 2024, with significant developments in renewable energy and the ongoing challenges of fossil fuel reliance. Whether you're curious about how much of our electricity comes from wind or the role of nuclear energy, this blog breaks down the key trends and highlights of the UK's energy mix in 2024.
What Is the UK's Energy Mix in 2024?
The term "energy mix" refers to the variety of energy sources used to generate electricity, and in 2024, it reveals a picture of both progress and challenges.
The following statistics are given in terawatt-hours (TWh). A terawatt-hour (TWh) is a massive amount of energy—equal to one trillion watts used for an hour. To break it down using street lamps, let's assume each lamp uses about 100 watts. With one TWh, you could power 10 billion street lamps for an hour! 1TW could light every streetlamp in the UK continuously for over 11 years. This huge measurement is why we use terawatt-hours when talking about national energy use. It helps capture just how much power we’re working with in everyday life.
Wind: 82.2 TWh, contributing a leading 29.4% of the total energy mix.
Gas: 72.6 TWh, accounting for 25.9%, making it the second-largest source.
Nuclear: 38.2 TWh, generating a steady 13.7%.
Solar: 13.8 TWh, with 4.9% of total electricity production.
Coal continues to decline, providing just 1.6 TWh, or 0.6%.
Key takeaways: Renewables, including wind, solar, and hydro, combined for approximately 35.6% of the total power generated in 2024—a slight increase compared to recent years.
The Bright Side: Positive Developments in the UK's Energy Mix
The push for greener, low-carbon energy is gaining momentum, providing a glimpse into a more sustainable future.
Record-Breaking Wind Generation
Wind energy continues to shine as a symbol of progress. Offshore wind farms hit a record-high generation of 49.7 TWh, reflecting a continued commitment to expanding wind energy capacity. With an increased share of over 29%, wind remains the UK's largest single renewable energy source.
Key Takeaway: Wind remains the stronghold of the UK’s renewable energy, with offshore capacity driving this progress.
The Decline of Coal
Coal accounted for just 0.6% of electricity this year. With the closure of the UK’s final coal-fired power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in September 2024, the UK bids farewell to one of the most polluting energy sources in history. This long-anticipated milestone marks over 140 years of coal power coming to an end.
Key Takeaway: The UK has officially ended its reliance on coal—a huge victory for sustainability.
Solar Energy Resilience
Solar generation peaked at 13.8 TWh, securing a record contribution of 4.9% to the energy mix despite fluctuating weather conditions. Expanding solar capacity has cushioned the impact of intermittent weather, highlighting its growing role in the energy transition.
Key Takeaway: Solar energy continues its steady rise, with untapped growth potential in urban and rural areas.
Falling Carbon Intensity
The average CO₂ emissions per kilowatt-hour fell to 127 gCO₂, reflecting progress toward decarbonisation. This continued decline is driven by reduced coal use and higher renewable shares in the grid.
Key Takeaway: Electricity in the UK is becoming cleaner—every unit emits less CO₂ than before.
Challenges—and How They Can Become Opportunities
Despite the progress, 2024 brought its share of challenges, exposing areas where improvements are still needed.
Reliance on Gas
Gas remains a dominant player, generating 25.9% of the UK’s electricity in 2024 and emitting 28.6 MtCO₂, a colossal 80% of the electricity sector’s total emissions. To understand the scale, offsetting one megatonne (MtCO₂) of gas emissions would require planting 45 million trees annually. But every challenge is an opportunity—in this case, a call to action to expand wind, solar, and innovative renewable solutions further.
Key Takeaway: Reliance on gas persists as the UK’s largest climate challenge, requiring aggressive action to reduce its role.
How we can help: Energy Oasis helps reduce gas reliance by providing tailored renewable energy systems and enhancing energy efficiency to cut emissions and costs.
Decline in Nuclear Power
Nuclear generation fell to 38.2 TWh, just 13.7% of the mix, due to ageing plants and outages. This challenge opens the door for advanced technologies and cleaner innovations like microgrids and next-generation reactors to step in.
Key Takeaway: Declining nuclear output risks creating gaps in stable energy supply that must be addressed.
How we can help: We bridge the nuclear gap by advancing renewable solutions such as battery storage and partnering on innovative clean energy technologies like microgrids and green energy hubs.
Energy Imports
The UK imported 15.7% of its electricity in 2024, a concerning indicator of dependency on interconnectors. Imported energy costs us over £250 million each month! Geopolitical instability or high-demand periods can strain this option, exposing the UK to supply risks. Astonishingly, 80% of the country’s offshore wind industry is owned by international investors, with 44% of these holdings belonging to state-owned foreign entities, meaning energy profits and decision-making often flow outside British borders. By boosting homegrown energy production and decentralised generation, the UK can keep both power—and profit—closer to home.
Key Takeaway: With high reliance on imported power and significant foreign ownership within renewables, the UK must focus on increasing self-sufficiency through domestic production, storage technology, and balanced investment strategies.
How we can help: Energy Oasis empowers self-sufficiency through increased domestic renewable capacity, from solar installations to local storage systems, reducing dependence on imports and foreign-owned infrastructure.
Balancing Grid Challenges
The intermittent nature of renewables like wind and solar creates persistent challenges in balancing energy supply and demand. Innovative storage solutions are on the rise, but, the complexity of the UK’s grid system goes beyond storage. The infrastructure isn't optimised to handle extensive imports of renewable energy, especially from offshore sources like wind farms. The limitations occur due to transmission bottlenecks, energy losses over long distances, and the need for expensive grid upgrades to accommodate high-capacity links.
This is where smaller-scale, decentralised energy generation can play a pivotal role in enhancing grid resilience and efficiency. By shifting focus from solely large, centralised projects, integrating distributed energy resources into the system can alleviate pressure on the national grid while tapping into underused spaces.
Industrial Roof Spaces: Maximising the use of vast, untapped roof areas in industrial parks for solar panels can significantly boost solar energy production. This onsite generation also reduces reliance on energy being transmitted long distances, cutting down on losses.
Community Energy Schemes: Renting small parcels of land in rural villages to establish community-owned wind turbines or solar farms promotes local energy production. Not only does this generate clean power, but it also keeps profits and benefits within the community, fuelling local economic growth.
Urban Infrastructure: Urban areas already possess innovative potential. The tops of multistory car parks, for instance, can be urban solar hubs. Such integrations convert otherwise idle spaces into productive energy resources.
Key Takeaway: Grid bottlenecks and intermittent renewables demand upgrades, storage, and decentralised energy generation.
How we can help: By blending large-scale renewable projects with practical, community-focused solutions and continued innovation in emerging storage technologies like hydrogen, the UK can transform its grid challenges into opportunities for a cleaner, smarter, and more resilient energy future.
FAQs on the UK’s Energy Mix
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Around 35.6% of 2024’s electricity was generated from solar, wind and hydro alone, a steady increase from previous years.
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Gas accounted for 25.9% of the UK’s electricity generation in 2024. It remains essential as a backup to balance the intermittency of renewable sources, especially during periods of low wind or sunlight. Gas-fired plants can ramp up quickly to meet demand, making them a key component of grid stability. However, the government is targeting a significant reduction in gas use by 2035 through increased renewable deployment and investments in energy storage solutions like battery systems and hydrogen.
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Coal has been completely phased out of the UK’s electricity generation by the end of 2024. At its peak in 2012, coal provided over 40% of the nation’s electricity. Its decline reflects the UK’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and moving toward cleaner energy sources. This milestone is a critical step in achieving the government’s legally binding target of net zero emissions by 2050. Phasing out coal also frees up space for renewable energy expansion and storage technologies.
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Wind energy is the UK’s largest source of renewable electricity, contributing 29.4% in 2024, compared to solar’s 4.9%. This is largely due to the country’s excellent wind conditions, especially offshore, and the scalability of wind farms, which can produce energy day and night. Solar, while growing consistently, is better suited to seasonal peaks in summer. Looking forward, the UK plans to increase offshore wind capacity to 50GW by 2030, while advances in urban solar installations aim to broaden solar’s contribution. Both sources are pivotal to meeting future energy demand, but wind energy will likely retain its dominance due to its higher efficiency and production capacity.
What’s the Future of the UK’s Energy Mix?
Renewable energy is set to play a pivotal role in achieving Net Zero by 2050. By 2030, wind capacity is projected to reach an ambitious 50GW, driving significant progress in clean energy adoption. Meanwhile, advancements in hydrogen technology and battery storage can stabilise grid demand, addressing challenges posed by intermittent weather. Both urban and rural solar innovations also offer promising pathways toward greater energy independence and sustainability. In the immediate future, reducing gas reliance must be a top priority.
UK’s energy future relies on scaling renewables, enhancing storage, and increasing grid resilience for a cleaner tomorrow. Contact Energy Oasis today for expert advice on renewable energy solutions for your business or community. Let's energise tomorrow together!
This article was crafted with the support of some fantastic web tools. A special thanks to Grid.iamkate, Energy Dashboard UK and NESO for their invaluable resources!