British wind power generation hits record capacity

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Wind power generation from Britain's wind farms hit a record level of 14.2 gigawatts (GW) on March 17, National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) said on Monday.

* The record generation, at 1430 GMT on Saturday (Shenzhen: 002291.SZ - news) , represented 34.2 percent of the total electricity generation in Britain at that time, National Grid said.

* "2017 was a record year for green energy and it's looking likely 2018 is set to exceed that," said Fintan Slye, Director of the System Operator at National Grid.

* The previous record, of 13.8 GW was set on March 1, when Britain was gripped by a cold snap, and National Grid issued its first gas deficit warning in eight years.

(Reporting by Susanna Twidale Editing by Alexander Smith)