Britons might be unsure about the growing potential for solar power there, but there's no question about the wind and tides. Electric Insights reports that wind power was the country's largest energy source in the second quarter of 2024.
"After a century of either coal or gas being our main source of electricity, wind power is now Britain's single largest source of electricity generation," it wrote in a PDF report covering the numbers. "Over the 12 months to April, Britain's wind farms produced 83 TWh of electricity, compared to 81 TWh from gas-fired power stations. Wind produced 32% of the country's demand, versus 31% from natural gas."
The report cautioned against spot measurements of wind, for the obvious reason: "It's important this is measured year-round, as this accounts properly for the intermittency of wind, which 'doesn't always blow.'"
Here's an illustrative chart, with pink for gas power and blue for wind, covering the last 14 years.
Denmark and Lithuania both went wind-powered about a decade ago, with Germany, Spain and Portugal catching the breeze last year. According to the report, several countries in Africa and Yemen are now predominantly solar-powered.
