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Solar Power in UK Surges 42% With Sunniest Spring on Record: Analysis

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06 Jun, 2025

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

Solar farms and rooftops in the United Kingdom generated a record 42 percent more electricity from January through May 2025 than during the same period in 2024, according to a new analysis by Carbon Brief.

The UK also just had its sunniest spring since record keeping began in 1910, the Met Office said.

Data from the National Energy System Operator shows that solar sites in the UK generated 7.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in the first five months of 2025. That’s 42 percent more than the 5.41 TWh generated last year at the same time. It also marks a 260 percent increase over the past decade.

“Solar power is rising faster than most people realise. It is cheap, fast to install and every unit of electricity it generates here in the UK displaces two units of imported gas,” said Simon Evans, senior policy editor at Carbon Brief, as The Times reported.

NEW ANALYSIS: UK’s solar power surges 42% to a new record, after the sunniest spring on record

* For the first time, solar was >10% of UK generation in consecutive months (April/May 2025)
* In 2025, solar has already avoided gas imports that would’ve cost £600m

www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uks…

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— Simon Evans (@drsimevans.carbonbrief.org) June 4, 2025 at 11:41 AM

Solar in the UK also reached a new half-hourly milestone at 1 p.m. on April 6, generating a record 13.2 gigawatts (GW) and meeting 40 percent of electricity demand, Carbon Brief said.

For the first time, solar made up over 10 percent of monthly electricity generation two months in a row — April and May. Solar accounted for 11.6 percent of the UK’s electricity generation in May, just the fourth time the 10 percent threshold has been breached.

So far, this year’s solar electricity output in the UK has avoided gas imports of roughly $813.9 million, which would have released approximately 6.61 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Though this year’s solar record was driven partially by the sunniest spring on record, rising capacity also helped. The UK’s solar capacity is on track to reach a minimum of 45 GW by the end of the decade, as part of the country’s goal of decarbonizing the power sector and becoming a “clean-energy superpower.”

UK solar installations generated an average of 2,320 megawatts (MW) of electricity in March, up 66 percent from 2024. April saw a jump of 53 percent from the previous year.

Electricity from solar also reached a high of 2.5 TWh in May, with April in second place with 2.3 TWh.

Between March 1 and May 31 of this year, the UK had 653 hours of sunshine — 43 percent higher than average for the period 1961 to 1990.

Sunshine hours in the UK have been increasing, especially since the 1980s, with spring months an average of 15 percent sunnier during the past decade, the analysis found.

This spring was not just the sunniest spring, but the fourth-sunniest season on record, with only three summers topping its sunshine hours. The abundance of sunshine, along with growing capacity, contributed to the unusually high output of solar power.

After stagnating for several years, installed solar capacity in the UK had jumped to 20.2 GW by the end of 2024. As capacity has grown, prices have fallen, increasing solar’s economic benefits.

Roughly 3 GW of new capacity have been approved for gigantic sites, including the Heckington Fen and Gate Burton solar farms, each with the potential to produce 500 MW of electricity once installed.

“Every new solar panel installed in the UK makes us less dependent on gas imports, which is good for our energy independence as well as for stabilising energy bills given the sun offers up its power for free,” said Jess Ralston, Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit analyst, as Business Green reported. “As we install more solar and build more wind turbines, our reliance on gas will fall.”

The post Solar Power in UK Surges 42% With Sunniest Spring on Record: Analysis appeared first on EcoWatch.

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ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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