Forecasts show that the UK is on track to break its records for solar power generation as summer draws to a close, as the government moves forward with its plans to increase the UK’s solar capacity by 300% by 2030.
According to ICIS findings compiled for the Guardian, figures for June – August are likely to show that solar energy output increased by almost a quarter in comparison to June – August 2023. By the end of August 2024, solar generation is expected to reach 5.85TWh.
In June it increased above 2TWh for the first time on record.
Chris Hewett, Chief Executive for Solar Energy UK, commented that the record “demonstrates how the UK’s solar generation capacity is growing at a remarkable pace, both on rooftops and on the ground”.
Government encouragement
On winning the election in July, the UK’s Labour government almost immediately kicked off its solar power initiatives. This included greenlighting three large solar farms in the east of England: Lincolnshire, the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border, and Mallard Pass.
These three sites are expected to provide the UK with 2/3 of its installed solar energy in 2024.
The government may also approve a solar farm at Cottam on the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire border, which would become the UK’s largest solar farm.
Labour’s greenlit solar farms and promises of investment into solar energy have seen public backlash. The Cottam farm has been openly opposed, and the former government blocked the development of solar farms if the plans were locally unpopular.
However, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband promised in a statement that the government would triple the UK’s solar power by 2030. As part of this “rooftop revolution”, new publicly owned energy company GB Energy is anticipated to improve access to solar-powered new-build homes for buyers.
