Only 5.8% of UK's electricity from coal in Q2 2016: BEIS
Just 5.8% of the UK’s electricity was generated from coal in Q2 2016, down from 20.3% in Q2 2015, according to the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. Power station closures and the switch from fossil fuel to biomass at the Drax plant contributed to the decline. However, there was also a slight fall in the use of renewable power to just under 25% of the total during the period. Hydropower and wind turbine outputs were affected by reduced wind speeds and rainfall and gas use to generate electricity rose from 30% in 2015 to 45%.

Coal generated a record low 6% of the UK’s electricity this spring, official figures show.

The share of coal in the power mix fell from 20% in the same period last year, following the closures of Ferrybridge C, West Yorkshire, and Longannet coal-fired power station in Scotland.

Another coal unit at Drax, North Yorkshire, has also switched from the fossil fuel to burning biomass.

Coal and gas electricity generation in the UK, 2013-2016 Photograph: BEIS

But renewable power also fell marginally in April to June 2016 compared to the previous spring, to just below 25% of the mix as a result of reduced wind speeds and rainfall which affected wind turbine output and hydropower.

The gap left by coal was filled by gas, which generated 45% of the UK’s electricity this spring – up from 30% the previous year. Overall, low carbon sources of electricity – renewables and nuclear – generated around 46% of the total.

The figures from the Department of Business and Energy (Beis) chart the continuing decline of coal power in the UK, which has seen polluting power stations close and the government pledge to phase out the power source by 2025 to tackle climate change.

This spring, the amount of electricity generated by coal fell to zero at points for the first time since the 19th century.

Over the course of April, more power was generated from wind than from coal, and in May solar panels outstripped coal-fired power stations to generate more electricity across the month than the fossil fuel.

In 2015, UK coal production and imports also fell as demand tumbled, the data from Beis shows.

Official figures reveal that greenhouse gases were down 1.3% in the second quarter of 2016 compared to the previous three months, as a result of the large switch from coal to gas for electricity in the spring.

Emissions for the year ending in the second quarter of 2016 were down almost 6% on the previous year, once the impact of warmer temperatures was taken into account.

Data from Beis also reveals that by the end of August some 11 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels had been installed across 886,523 schemes from household arrays to huge solar farms.

The figure was up 30% on August 2015, but installation of new capacity has largely stalled in the wake of curbs on subsidies for the renewable power, the figures show.

Juliet Davenport, chief executive of renewable energy supplier Good Energy said: “As clean technology advances, Britain is bidding farewell to coal. The transition to a 100% renewable future is within Britain’s grasp.

“The government has very stretched carbon reduction targets so we need to see decisive action and a level playing field for renewable technologies.”