Energy Secretary and Conservative candidate Claire Coutinho said the proportion of British electricity that comes from clean energy is “half” compared to “just 7% when Labour left power”.Ms Coutinho’s claim is only accurate if nuclear power is not considered to be “clean energy”. The Cabinet minister has, on several occasions, referred to nuclear as clean energy.
That had risen to 47.3% by 2023, according to the department’s provisional figures. This also matches Ms Coutinho’s claim. However, both totals exclude nuclear power. When that source is included, clean energy accounted for 23.1% of the UK’s electricity generation in 2010, which rose to 61.5% in 2023.from National Grid’s Electricity System Operator – which runs the supply system – shows that in 2010, the last year that Labour was in power, clean energy sources, including nuclear, provided around 21% of Great Britain’s electricity.