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Renewable Energy
The following provides information and analysis on the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources and is dis-aggregated from the UK level to local authority level, supplied by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
It includes information on capacity, generation and number of operational sites in County Durham.
Key Points:
- In 2023 it was estimated that over 135.7 million megawatt hours (MWh) – (see the definition below) – of electricity was generated from renewable energy sources in the UK, up from 122.1 million megawatt hours (MWh) in 2021,
- In County Durham 488,000 MWh of electricity was generated from renewable sources in 2023, up from 422,000 MWh in 2021,
- The number of on-shore wind turbines in County Durham is low at 96 (2023), however, they produced 55% of the renewable electricity in 2023 in the county. This was equivalent to 268,200 MWh,
- Plant biomass is the second largest contributor to renewable electricity production in the county providing 22.1% of the total electricity generated in 2023 from renewable sources (107,600 MWh),
- Photovoltaics are the most common form of renewable energy site in County Durham with over 12,000 sites and in 2023. They had a capacity of 69 megawatts (MW) and in 2023 generated an estimated 55,800 MWh of electricity – 11.4% of the total .
Definition: A MW is equal to 1,000 kilowatts (kW). A megawatt-hour (MWh) is a unit of measure of electric energy. A MWh is 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh). An MWh is the amount of electricity generated by a one megawatt (MW) electric generator operating or producing electricity for one hour.
Further information on this topic can be found on the GOV.UK website and the interactive charts below give access to the time series data for County Durham.