UK government statistics show that 871 MW of new SOLAR POWER capacity was added in the first 11 months of 2023. but the UK SOLAR POWER Energy Industry Association says that more than 1 GW of SOLAR PANEL was actually deployed last year.

The UK's cumulative solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity reached 15.6 GW by the end of November 2023, according to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero Emissions (DESNZ).

In the first 11 months of this year, 871 MW of new solar PV systems were added in the U.K. This is a significant increase compared to the 496.8 MW added in the first 11 months of 2022 and the 323.9 MW added in the same period in 2021.

But Gareth Simkins, a spokesman for the British Solar Energy Power Industries Association, told Solar PV Magazine that new solar capacity in the UK in 2023 is greater than the DESNZ figures and is likely to exceed 1 GW.

The last time the UK deployed more than 1 GW of solar capacity in a calendar year occurred in 2016.

Simkins attributed the faster pace of delivery to a range of factors including soaring energy prices as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and he also cited reasons such as annual CFD auctions, falling panel costs, the ongoing relaxation of planning rules and decarbonization efforts.

The latest DESNZ auction, which tendered nearly 2 GW of solar power from 56 projects in September, marked the first time that solar power generated at auction in the UK exceeded wind power, but with that comes the question of the range of improvements that must be implemented to ensure that bidding projects are connected to the grid.

By at least 190,000 MCS-sized installations in the UK last year, Simkins is referring to rooftop solar power projects that were less than 50 KW in size and predominantly domestic Solar PV. This marks an increase in installations compared to 138,000 arrays in 2022 and is close to the peak of 203,129 installations in 2011 under the UK's long-term protective tariff system.

Simkins said, "With more and more solar power panel to be installed on rooftops, and several mega solar farms in the pipeline of around 800 MW, we are confident that we will meet the government's stated target of installing 70 GW of solar power by 2035. "

Simkins said that Solar power Taskforce, a coalition of solar industry stakeholders set up by the UK government in March 2023, is close to finalizing the 70 GW roadmap. The guide is tentatively scheduled for a March 2024 release.

Source : www.pv-magazine.com