UK Wind Power Output Hits Record as Exports to France Surge

(Bloomberg) -- UK wind power output reached a record on Sunday, sending exports to France to their highest level in more than a year. 

It was just days ago that Europe’s electricity market faced a severe challenge as its wind turbines more or less stopped spinning in the calm weather. Such big swings in output shows the challenges utilities and governments have to contend with more often as intermittent sources make up a growing share of the power mix. 

UK wind power output peaked at more than 22 gigawatts, breaking a December 2023 record, according to NESO data at 6:30 p.m. in London. Overnight exports to France were the highest since March 2023. 

Wind farms were still generating more than 60% of the nation’s power on Monday morning, according to NESO data. 

The UK government is relying on a huge build-out of wind power to reach a goal for a zero carbon power grid by 2030. But as the turbines stopped spinning last week, a record amount of electricity was produced from the country’s natural gas-fired power stations. That shows that there’s still a great need for back-up sources when there’s no wind or sunshine. 

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