Wind power is now providing nearly half or the UK’s renewable electricity and the country is on the verge of having ten per cent of its electricity generated from renewable sources.

New government figures show that in the third quarter of 2010, the UK derived its biggest-ever level of energy supplies from renewable sources, including 8.6 per cent of electricity.

The statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change also show that the contribution from wind power has risen by 37 per cent compared to same quarter in 2009. RenewableUK, the country’s leading renewable energy trade association, said that wind now supplies just under half of all renewable electricity in the UK, making it the nation’s leading renewable technology in terms of actual units delivered to the grid.

Alex Murley, RenewableUK head of technical affairs, said: “We are now within reach of ten per of electricity from renewables, having had around two per cent a decade ago. The renewables industry has managed to deliver a five-fold increase in actual units delivered to consumers since 2001.

“This gives us confidence that, with the right policy support, we can deliver on our 2020 targets. There are no technological barriers to having a third of our electricity from renewables in the next ten years – it is perfectly doable.”

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