Wind power surpassed nuclear power this fall in the U.K.

Wind power has been steadily increasing in prominence over the last decade, reaching a significant milestone this past October when winds from Hurricane Gonzalo supplied enough winds to produce 14.2 percent of all the UK’s electricity in comparison to the 13.2 percent produced by nuclear reactors.

According to the UK’s National Grid, the hurricane brought wind gusts of up to 70 mph to the northern parts of the UK, enabling wind power to outperform nuclear power throughout the entire weekend and into Monday morning between Oct. 18 and 20; this allowed a number of coal power plants to be taken offline.

“Wind power set a new peak record of generating 7,998 megawatts (MW) over a half-hour period at midday on Saturday once local turbines are factored in,” said a press release from trade association RenewableUK. 

While the results may be hailed as a victory for sustainable energy, there are some rather unordinary factors that contributed toward this success. First, 70 mph winds are uncommon, requiring a hurricane or superstorm to enact. Secondly, a number of nuclear reactors were taken offline for repairs during the weekend of October 18 and 19; the Sizewell B nuclear reactor was taken offline for repair due to a :statutory outage,” Hunterston B Reactor B shut down for maintenance, and two units at Dungeness B were also offline, reports the BBC.

Unfortunately, wind power will not surpass nuclear under the average circumstances, but at least this event demonstrates the sustainable energy’s potential. Potential, which when grown, can produce even more clean energy.

Via PHYS.org