UK Approaches Zero-Carbon Target

The United Kingdom’s National Energy Operator (NESO), has made a dramatic announcement as the UK approaches zero-carbon generation. The island nation’s achievement is quite remarkable. Especially because coal supplied around 70% to 80% of British electricity at times in the 20th Century.

But now there are periods where coal contributes essentially nothing at all. Offshore wind, nuclear power, solar, hydro, other sources, and large battery storage have changed the national grid. On April 22, 2026, Britain ran on 98.8% renewables between 3.30 and 4.00 p.m.

Storage Batteries Made Near Zero-Carbon Practical

This achievement would not have been possible, without storage batteries to manage the renewable energy. On that same day, natural gas reached an historic low of 1.2% of the energy mix, at both transmission and distribution levels.

This means that zero-carbon energy sources were producing sufficient electricity on the transmission network, to power almost all 28 million homes and 5 million businesses across the country.

Solar In Support As UK Approaches These Records

As the UK approached zero-carbon on that remarkable day, energy from the sun was there to support it too. Solar achieved two records consecutively in as many days.

On 22 April 2026 between 12:30 and 1:00 pm, distribution-connected solar generated a peak of 14.8 gigawatts. Then it exceeded this record between 12:30 and 1:00 pm the next day, to reach 15.4 gigawatts this time. The previous maximum record was 14.4 gigawatts earlier that same month.

The records came through four weeks after Britain smashed its wind record too. On March 25, 2026 the other leading renewable source, wind, generated 23.9 gigawatts of electricity.

These achievements remind us of the days of the mid-eighteenth century. This was when Britain’s coal mines and steam engines were launching the first industrial revolution. That was the decade when global warming started. How apt that the island nation is now at the forefront of reversing this trend!