New statistics released by the Government show that renewables generated a record 52.5% of the UK’s electricity in 2025 - the second consecutive year in which they have exceeded 50%, and an increase on the previous high of 50.4% in 2024.
These are the first figures published by the Government covering 2025 in its entirety. They appear in the latest Energy Trends report by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which also shows that a record amount of clean power was produced last year, reaching a new high of 152.5 terawatt hours (TWh), up 5.7% from 144.3TWh in 2024.
The report states that the record was due to high wind and solar generation, with both technologies generating ten times the amount they did in 2015.
- Wind generation increased to a record 30% (a record 87.1TWh), up from 29.2% (83.6TWh) in 2024, due to increases in capacity.
- Offshore wind generated a record 17.9% (a record 52TWh) in 2025, up from 17% (48.8TWh) in 2024.
- Onshore wind provided 12.1% (35.1TWh) in 2025, compared to 12.2% (34.8TWh) in the previous year.
- Wind generated 57.1% of all renewable electricity last year, compared to 58% in 2024.
DESNZ stated that a large decrease in nuclear output meant that the share of generation from low carbon sources (renewables and nuclear) remained similar at 64.8% in 2025 (188.3TWh), up slightly on 2024 (64.6%, 184.9TWh).
Solar provided a record 6.9% (a record 20TWh) of the UK’s electricity last year, a significant increase from 5.1% (14.6TWh) 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 (14.25% of UK electricity) to 35.9 TWh in 2025 (12.3%). This was half the level of generation seen in 2015, with older plants decommissioned and increased outages across the ageing fleet, according to the report.
Generation by fossil fuels increased slightly from 31.9% (91.2TWh) in 2024 to 32%(93.1TWh) in 2025. The report states that almost all the fossil fuel generation was from gas, which increased from 87.4TWh in 2024 to 91.5 TWh in 2025, a 31.5% share of the UK’s electricity generation in 2025 (up from 30.5% in 2024). Coal generation ceased in 2024.
RenewableUK’s CEO Tara Singh said:
'These figures show renewables are now the backbone of Britain’s power system, supplying most of our electricity for the second year running, with wind doing the heavy lifting. That matters for bills, because low-cost renewables reduce our reliance on gas, which still sets electricity prices most of the time and is vulnerable to spikes.
'With the next renewables auction opening in July - and more than twice the offshore wind capacity eligible compared to the last round - there’s a real opportunity to lock in cheaper, more secure power, and the Government should be ambitious on the budget and parameters for the upcoming auction.'
The Government’s latest Energy Trends report is available here.
Source: RenewableUK
