Wind power hits new record as gas squeezed to tiny share of generation

Wind energy across Great Britain hit a new record on Wednesday, producing enough electricity for more than 23 million homes across the country.

Solar and wind also combined to squeeze more expensive gas-fired generation to just 2.3% of the power mix, figures from the National Energy System Operator (Neso) show.

The record comes as the Government announced a £64 million grant to back the development of Port Talbot, in Wales, as the first port in the Celtic Sea to support floating offshore wind which can harness even more renewable power.

The Neso figures show that between 1.30pm and 2pm on Wednesday, wind generation hit 23,880 megawatts (MW) of electricity, beating the previous record of 23,825MW set on December 5 2025.

Slightly earlier at midday wind and solar power combined to produce 34 gigawatts (GW) of power, squeezing gas generation to just over a gigawatt, or 1,358MW – the lowest since April 2024.

At the time of the record, more than half of Britain’s electricity (53.5) was coming from wind power, a fifth came from solar, 10% from nuclear, 9.6% from trading over interconnectors with other European countries, 2.4% from biomass, 2.3% from gas, 1.5% from other sources and 0.4% from hydro, Neso said.

Kayte O’Neill, chief operating officer at Neso said: “This is a world-leading record, showing that our national electricity system can run safely and securely on large quantities of renewables generated right here in Britain.

“We’ve come on leaps and bounds in wind generation in recent years.

“It really shows what is possible, and I look forward to seeing if we can hit another clean energy milestone in the months ahead: running Britain’s electricity grid entirely zero carbon.”

The record comes as the UK faces rising energy costs as a result of the Middle East crisis which has pushed up global oil and gas prices.

There have been calls to increase drilling in the North Sea in light of the crisis following the US-Israeli war on Iran, to boost energy security, although experts have warned that will not significantly bring down prices or secure supplies.

Meanwhile the Government has doubled down on its push towards clean energy, with new housing rules mandating heat pumps and solar panels, access to plug-in solar panels for homeowners and bringing forward renewable energy auctions for major wind farms and other projects.

In its latest move, it has provided £64 million funding for Associated British Ports to complete the design and engineering work needed to build one of the first floating offshore wind ports in the UK at Port Talbot.

The port will support the development of 4.5GW of floating offshore wind projects – which are suited to the Celtic Sea as they are based in deeper waters where they can harness stronger and more consistent wind speeds – enough to power 6.5 million homes.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “With its deep waters and strong winds, we are supporting Wales to storm ahead in floating offshore wind – a pioneering industry that will support thousands of good jobs, drive growth across the country and unlock the next generation of clean, homegrown power.”