Renewable sources produced a record 55.8% of UK electricity in the second quarter of 2026, according to the government’s latest Energy Trends statistics. The figure beats the previous record of 54.8%, set in the third quarter of 2025, and renewable output rose 5.0% on a year earlier to 38.3 TWh.
Wind did the heavy lifting
Wind generation rose 9.4% to 19.2 TWh and supplied 27.9% of the UK’s electricity, ahead of gas at 26.8%. Onshore wind rose 13% to 7.9 TWh and offshore wind rose 7.1% to 11.2 TWh. DESNZ credits both new capacity and the highest wind speeds for a second quarter since 2017.
Solar matched last year’s record of 8.4 TWh, a 12.3% share, despite fewer sun hours than the record-sunny second quarter of 2025. Hydro output jumped 69% to 1.2 TWh, while bioenergy fell 3.3%.
Capacity and the rest of the mix
Installed renewable capacity reached 66.3 GW, up 2.7 GW (4.2%) on a year earlier, with solar making up three quarters of the new capacity. The UK now has more than 2.1 million solar installations, and DESNZ says there were more in the first half of 2026 than in any previous year.
Growth slowed within the quarter itself: only 0.4 GW was added, the lowest quarterly figure since the third quarter of 2023, split equally between onshore wind and solar.
The wider picture was less clear-cut. Nuclear generation fell 11% to 8.7 TWh, so low-carbon sources’ share slipped 0.9 percentage points to 68.5%. Gas generation rose 4.4% to 18.4 TWh. Electricity demand rose 3.4% to 76.3 TWh, the highest second-quarter level in five years.
What it means
Renewables are covering more of the system, but a weaker nuclear fleet and higher demand mean gas still plays a large role. The figures are for April to June; summer output is not a guide to winter, when solar output falls away. Our explainers cover onshore wind and offshore wind, and you can watch the mix in real time on our live UK grid page.