4. RENEWABLE ENERGY

In 2018, the United Kingdom was the largest market for offshore wind energy in the world with an installed capacity of around 7.9 GW offshore, besides 12.2 GW of onshore wind capacity. Solar PV installations increased rapidly over the past seven years, with 99% of the United Kingdom’s capacity being deployed since May 2010, driven by financial support for utility, commercial, and small-scale solar PV installations.

Heat from renewable energy

The United Kingdom has a low share of renewable heat, with 7.7% of heat consumption met by renewables in 2017 (UK Government, 2018i, Table 6.7). Most of the heat in buildings is supplied by individual gas (75%) or oil (8%) boilers (CCC, 2016). This reflects the housing stock (much of which is composed of low-density single-family dwellings), extensive gas networks, and low gas prices.

District heating networks are very limited and supply only about 2% of UK heat demand, primarily from natural gas boilers and small co-generation plants. Some small district heating schemes have recently deployed biomass boilers, e.g. the 29 megawatts (MW) Blackburn Meadows biomass-fuelled co-generation1 plant.

In 2011 the government launched the RHI to bridge the gap between the cost of renewable and fossil fuel heating technologies. As of the end of August 2018, the United Kingdom had over 18 800 non-residential accredited renewable heat installations accredited on the scheme with a total capacity of 4 210 megawatt thermal (MWth), which have been paid for generating 26 404 gigawatt hours (GWh) of heat since November 2011 (UK Government, 2018a). Over 63 500 residential installations accredited on the scheme have been paid for generating 2 942 GWh of heat since April 2014. Biomass boilers dominate, and heat pumps (in particular, air-source heat pumps [ASHPs]) also have a significant share in the residential sector (see “Policies and measures” below for more details).

Institutions

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is responsible, among other issues, for renewable energy policy. It oversees the effectiveness of the various mechanisms: the renewables obligation (RO), feed-in tariffs (FITs), CFDs, and the RHI. BEIS was created in July 2016 as a result of a merger between the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The Department for Transport is responsible for the promotion of renewable energy use in transport through policies and measures such as the RTFO and the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Mechanism. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles, which promotes the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, is based in the department and is jointly run with BEIS.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is responsible for policy and regulations on environmental, food, and rural issues, which include air quality, waste, water, and domestic adaptation strategies. Defra works with BEIS to ensure that

1 Co-generation refers to the combined production of heat and power.

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ENERGY SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION

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