New statistics published today by the Government confirm that renewable energy provided over half of the UK’s electricity for the second year running in 2025, guaranteeing our energy security by generating a record annual percentage of clean power, and outstripping fossil fuels for the fifth time in the last six years. Offshore wind generated its highest annual percentage of electricity ever.
Renewables provided 52.1% of the UK’s electricity last year (up from 50.5% in 2024), compared to 32.3% from fossil fuels, almost all from gas (31.75%), as coal was phased out in 2024.
Renewables also generated a record amount of power at 153 terawatt hours (TWh), surpassing the previous record of 144.5TWh set in 2024. Fossil fuels produced 94.9TWh last year (93.2TWh from gas).
The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), states that the rise is due to increases in wind and solar capacity, higher than average wind speeds and record levels of sunshine.
Wind remains the UK’s biggest source of clean power, generating a record 29.5% of our electricity in 2025 (a record 86.4TWh), up from 29.2% in 2024 (83.6TWh). Wind provided 56.5% of all renewable electricity last year.
A record 17.7% of the UK’s electricity was produced by offshore wind in 2025 (a record 52TWh), up from 17.1% (48.8TWh) in 2024. Today’s report notes that this represents a large increase in recent years, as it is roughly triple the volume seen ten years ago. The report also states that offshore wind continues to be the leading renewable technology, providing 60% of all wind generation and 34% of all renewable generation, as coastal wind speeds are stronger and more consistent, and new turbines are more powerful. Onshore wind provided 11.7% (34.4TWh), compared to 12.2% (34.8TWh) in the previous year.
Solar provided a record 6.9% (a record 20.1TWh) of the UK’s electricity last year, a significant increase from 5.2% (15TWh) in the previous year, as capacity grew and average daily sun hours were substantially higher.
Nuclear generation fell by 12% from 40.6TWh in 2024 (14.2% of UK electricity) to 35.9TWh in 2025 (12.2%) last year. This was half the level of generation seen in 2015, due to older plants being decommissioned and increased outages across the ageing nuclear fleet. Despite this, due to increases in renewables, low carbon sources (renewables and nuclear) generated 64.3% of UK electricity in 2025.
Commenting on today’s statistics, RenewableUK’s CEO Tara Singh said:
'It’s great to see that renewables have generated over half the UK’s electricity for the second year running, outperforming fossil fuels significantly, and proving once more that clean power is right at the heart of our modern energy system, consistently providing most of the electricity we need to keep British homes and businesses up and running.
'It’s good news for billpayers struggling with the cost of living too, as every wind farm we build pushes the most expensive gas generators off the system. In 2025, wind reduced wholesale electricity prices by 31% by cutting the need for gas-fired power plants. Renewables also enable us to move faster on the electrification of heat and transport to cut bills by reducing the use of costly fossil fuels.
'We can build on today’s milestone by attracting record levels of investment in new wind and solar projects in this year’s clean energy auction which opened this month. We secured a record-breaking amount of offshore wind in the last round which will bring over £30 billion in private investment to the UK, and it’s essential that we continue to procure good value renewables. The last auction showed onshore wind is half the cost of new gas plants and offshore wind is 40% cheaper. Double the amount of offshore capacity that won contracts in the last round eligible to bid in this one, which will ensure that bids will be priced as low as possible due to the intense level of competition. We’re looking forward to the Government announcing the budget soon, and hope that it will be set at a level which maximises the amount of low-cost power we can deliver, as we continue to strengthen the UK’s energy security year on year'.
Source: RenewableUK
