For the first time in British history, wind turbines generated more electricity across an entire calendar year than fossil fuel plants. That milestone, confirmed by energy think tank Ember and government statistics for 2024, marks the end of more than a century of fossil fuel dominance in UK electricity — and it happened faster than most experts predicted.
- Wind generated a record 29.5% of UK electricity in 2024, while fossil fuels fell to 31.8% — their lowest share since the 1950s, according to government energy statistics.
- Low-carbon sources including wind, solar, and hydro together produced 37% of UK electricity in 2024, overtaking fossil fuels at 35% for the first full year on record, per Ember’s annual UK energy analysis.
- The UK closed its last coal-fired power plant in October 2024, making it one of roughly a third of OECD nations now completely coal-free.
The trend became visible as early as the first quarter of 2024, when wind alone generated 25.3 terawatt hours of electricity compared to 23.6 terawatt hours from all fossil fuel sources combined. That was the second consecutive quarter wind had beaten fossil fuels — itself a first in British history.
How the numbers shifted across 2024
The full-year picture is striking. Just three years earlier, in 2021, fossil fuels produced 46% of UK electricity while low-carbon renewables produced 27%. By the end of 2024, those figures had essentially flipped.
Wind carried the heaviest load among clean sources. Offshore wind generated 17.2% of UK electricity — 48.9 terawatt hours — while onshore wind contributed another 12.3%, or 35.1 terawatt hours. Both set new annual records. Solar added 5.2% and nuclear contributed 14.25%, pushing total low-carbon generation to a record 65% of the country’s electricity supply.
Gas use fell to its lowest level since 1996, dropping 13% year-on-year. Fossil fuel generation overall fell to levels not seen since the 1950s, according to RenewableUK. The decline was driven by a combination of rising renewable capacity, lower electricity demand, and cheaper power imports from interconnected European grids.
What this means for ordinary households
For UK residents, the shift in the electricity mix has a direct financial dimension. Wind and solar generate power at stable, predictable costs once built — they have no fuel to buy. Gas plants, by contrast, are exposed to global commodity markets, which is a major reason energy bills spiked across Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Jane Cooper, deputy chief executive of RenewableUK, said the record figures are good news for bill payers because renewables provide electricity at stable prices. She added that the next step is reforming electricity markets and grid infrastructure so households can fully benefit from the clean energy rollout.
The coal phase-out also has an air quality dimension that hits working communities hardest. Coal plants concentrate pollution near the communities closest to them. Closing the last one removes a persistent source of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and carbon emissions from the UK’s air permanently.
The momentum behind the numbers
The shift didn’t happen by accident. The UK has built more wind capacity than any other type of power source, with offshore wind capacity now exceeding combined-cycle gas stations. Several large offshore wind farms — including Dogger Bank A and B, Neart na Gaoithe, and Moray West — were still under construction in 2024 and are expected to reach full operation by 2026, adding a combined 3.8 gigawatts of new generating capacity.
The government has set a target of 95% low-carbon electricity by 2030. Based on Ember’s analysis of UK energy trends, the trajectory makes that target achievable — though it will require continued investment in storage, grid upgrades, and new capacity auctions.
Challenges that remain on the road to clean power
The 2024 milestone is real, but it comes with caveats worth acknowledging. Wind generation fluctuates with weather. During summer months, when winds calm and demand can rise with air conditioning use, gas plants still carry a significant share of the load. Biomass — counted as renewable under some frameworks — remains a significant emitter and a contested part of the UK’s energy accounting.
Energy experts also warn that the electricity market structure itself needs reform to ensure consumers capture the full price benefit of low-cost wind and solar. The potential introduction of zonal pricing — where electricity costs vary by region — has drawn concern from the renewable industry, which argues it could slow investment in new projects at exactly the moment the UK needs to accelerate.
Still, what happened in 2024 would have seemed implausible a decade ago. Wind and fossil fuels essentially tied for the UK’s largest single power source, a country that industrialized on coal. The direction of travel is no longer in question.
This story was originally reported by Reuters.
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