About this data

Source: DESNZ, UK electricity capacity and generation by fuel between 1920 and 2020 (to 1995); Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2026, Table 5.6 (from 1996)

• Figures up to 1995 are DESNZ's estimates, made from historical records of fuel used in power stations; the official statistics on generation by fuel start in 1996. The estimates for the early 1990s, when gas power stations were being built, don't line up exactly with the official figures for 1996.
• Before 1996, wind, solar and hydro are counted together as hydro: wind generated under 1 TWh a year, and solar almost nothing.
• Other includes waste-derived fuels other than bioenergy, coke oven gas and blast furnace gas. Electricity used for pumped storage is not counted again when it is generated.

This chart appears in Energy production and consumption.