Senior analyst Frankie Mayo presents Regen’s latest analysis, looking at the lockdown impact on electricity demand since its announcement of 23 March 2020.
Noticeable reduction in GB electricity demand following lock down announcement
This month’s graphic of the month illustrates lockdown impact on electricity demand alongside the amount of coal-fired power generation for 2020. The lockdown in the UK has coincided with the longest coal-free period since the 1880s, 20 days at time of publishing. Recent change in patterns of electricity supply has seen the highly polluting and expensive coal being pushed to operate only in periods of high demand, displaced by cheaper renewables such as wind and solar power, biomass, and gas-fired fossil-fuel power plants.
Coal is not necessarily gone for good, and to reduce our dependency on fossil-fuel power generation a continued commitment to a carbon price and support for low-carbon technologies is necessary.
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