Renewables Annual Report 2024 - Advancing the Green Agenda: An overview of the UK's Renewable Energy Landscape (BDO)

Summary

• In 2023, renewable energy sources generated 47% of the UK's electricity generation compared to 37% in 2019.p.3
• Investments in the UK's energy transition rose by 84.3% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching £59.4bn.p.34
• UK climate-tech companies raised £2.2bn in 2023, while equity investments in clean energy generation companies expanded by 40% YoY to £1.3bn.p.32
• The global renewable sector recorded a 29.7% YoY drop in transaction count and a 27.9% reduction in deal value in 2023.p.30
• UK cleantech deal count fell 10.0% to 243 deals, totaling £1.9bn in deal value in 2023.p.30
• The UK's connection queue capacity reached 546 GW in 2023, with waiting times for network connection surging to 5 years.p.22

Key insights

1. Wind farms generated almost one-third of UK electricity in 2023, making wind capacity overtake combined-cycle gas power stations for the first time.p.17
2. Subsidies and policy caps led to no offers for offshore wind projects in the CfD AR5 auction, leaving a capacity gap for subsequent rounds.p.10
3. Over 90% of the UK's oil & gas workforce possesses skills suitable for transfer to the offshore renewable energy sector.p.12
4. Listed renewable investment trusts in the UK traded at discounts to NAV ranging from 12.1% to 60.9% as of April 2024, impairing equity raising.p.33
5. Lithium-ion batteries accounted for 95% of the UK's energy storage project pipeline in 2023.p.24
6. China held a dominant share of UK critical mineral imports in 2023, including 91.9% of tungsten and 82.1% of bismuth.p.14
7. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology is projected to be the largest contributor to stored energy output among emerging duration technologies by 2050.p.24