UK wind power set for two more bumper days as solar strengthens

London — UK wind generation was set for two more bumper days Tuesday and Wednesday after Monday outturned almost exactly in line with National Grid forecasts, system operator data showed Tuesday.

Late Sunday, National Grid forecast average wind generation of 13.8 GW Monday. In the event, wind averaged 13.82 GW, meeting 37.92% of UK demand as Storm Brendan surged across the country, prompting a 16.59 GW peak just before 1800 GMT.

In its latest forecasts for Tuesday and Wednesday, National Grid is forecasting average wind generation of around 13.4 GW and 13.5 GW, respectively.

While wind is set to be consistently strong, Grid's UK embedded solar forecasts show a swing from 600 MW peaks Tuesday midday to over 3 GW Wednesday, with over three hours of plus-1 GW solar output Wednesday.

Averaged across a whole day solar is barely there, meeting just 0.46% of demand Monday, but the source trims the thermal gap during peak daylight hours, hitting prices for gas-fired generation – which was down to 22.7% of demand Monday.