On 15 March 2024, ADBA submitted its formal response to the Scottish Government's consultation on…
Digest of UK Energy Statistics: Growth in AD
The annual Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) has been released, providing data about energy generation and use in 2015.
It has been a good year for growth in renewable energy sources. Electricity generation from these sources increased by 29% from 2014 to a total of 83.6 TWh in 2015. Capacity grew by 23% to 30.5GW over the same time period. Renewables now provide almost a quarter of the UK’s energy generation increasing from 19.1% in 2014 to 24.6% in 2015.
Generation from bioenergy sources has also increased, up by 30% in 2015 compared to 2014 mainly due to the conversion of a Drax power station. There was also a large increase in generation from municipal solid waste, and anaerobic digestion generated 40% more power. The number of AD plants registerest to both the Feed in Tariff (FIT) Scheme and the Renewables Heat Incentive (RHI) increased over the past year.
The FIT scheme saw anaerobic digestion capacity increase from 147MW to 177MW, accounting for 4% of the overall scheme capacity. For the RHI scheme anaerobic digestion was the largest growth component of all technology categories. Renewable heat generated from anaerobic digestion more than doubled to 95ttoe in 2015.
AD industry has contributed to the rise of renewable energy sources contributing to electricity generation by 40% and has been increasing year on year since 2011. DUKES statistics record the following:
| Year | AD Capacity (MW) |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 71 |
| 2012 | 119 |
| 2013 | 163 |
| 2014 | 238 |
| 2015 | 286 |
| Year | Electricity Generation (GWh) |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 273 |
| 2012 | 501 |
| 2013 | 726 |
| 2014 | 1,019 |
| 2015 | 1,429 |
The UK Electrical capacity for sewage gas increased very slightly, from 215MW to 216MW and electricity generated from sewage gas increased from 846GWh to 888GWh. Heat from AD increased from 67.7ttoe to 73.1ttoe as the water industry continued to drive more efficiency from AD assets
The use of waste and farm AD for heat (on site biogas or biomethane to grid) more than doubled from 42.9ttoe to 95.5ttoe from 2014 to 2015.
Yesterday Charlotte gave ADBA's reaction to the publication – “Official figures reflect biogas for electricty and heat“.
If you have any further questions or any comments about the DUKES update please contact Emma Thomas at emma.thomas@adbioresources.org or call 0203 735 8118.
