The wind power significantly contributed to the electricity supply in the UK after the nuclear reactors halted operations and a gas power station was hit by a fire.
The UK’s gas power declined suddenly due to a fire at Didcot B power station, which has a capacity of up to 1,360MW, enough to meet the needs of one million homes.
Once local turbines are factored in, the wind power set a new record of generating 7,998MW in over a half-hour period at midday on 19 October 2014.
RenewableUK External Affairs director Jennifer Webber said: "This year has seen successive new records for wind generation and this latest evidence shows it’s more than capable of stepping in when traditional sources of generation go offline without warning.
"As we can expect more of these outages in the future, it’s reassuring to know we have wind filling the energy gap.
"Wind power is often used as a convenient whipping boy by political opponents and vested interests; all the while, it’s been quietly powering millions of homes across the UK and providing a robust response to its vocal detractors."
Due to unplanned outages and refueling, four nuclear plants (nine reactors) are currently offline, affecting the UK’s nuclear industry. This has taken away 5,303MW of generating capacity from the entire system.
