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Increasing the amount of wind energy contributed to the electricity grid will not require large numbers of conventional coal- and gas-fired power plants to be kept on standby, according to a technical report published today. The report, commissioned by environmental groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, found that the UK's grid could cope with the variable energy input generated from wind farms.

Italy, a growing market for renewable energy, is on the road to becoming the first country to achieve "grid parity" - the Holy Grail of solar power, where costs of producing photovoltaic energy finally fall below retail electricity prices.