UK WIND BOOMING

UK wind production up 55% in 2011
John McKenna, 29 March 2012 (Windpower Monthly)

"Higher than average wind speeds in 2011 helped UK wind farms generate 54.5% more electricity than they managed in 2010, according to government figures…Despite 2011 being the UK's lowest year for wind installations since 2005 — only 403MW was installed onshore and 291MW offshore – wind farms managed to generate 15.53TWh of electricity, up from 10.18TWh in 2010.

"Onshore wind generated 10.42TWh, up 45.9% from 7.14TWh in 2010. Offshore wind generated 5.11TWh in 2011, up 67.9% from 3.04TWh the previous year…The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc)…claimed the increase in generation was due to higher windspeeds in 2011 and increased capacity."

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"According to the Decc data, there was 4.63GW of installed onshore capacity at the end of 2011, and 1.34GW installed offshore capacity…Total energy production in the UK was 136.6TWh, a record annual decrease of 13.6% blamed largely on falling oil and gas generation.

"Renewable electricity generation was 34.75 TWh and increased its share of the overall energy mix by 2.5 percentage points on 2010 to a record 9.5%."