Scotland Must Make Greater Use Of Renewable Energy Potential, Says WWF

WWF-Scotland has called on the Scottish Government to make greater use of the country’s renewable energy resources and potential.

According to WWF-Scotland, the upcoming governmental review of Scotland’s energy strategy must strive to make greater use of the country’s renewable energy potential, and set out plans to be powered by 100% renewable energy. WWF-Scotland’s call comes as it releases its own analysis of the country’s solar and wind power data provided by WeatherEnergy.

The role of renewable energy in Scotland only continues to increase, as was exemplified in May’s energy data. Scottish homes fitted with solar PV panels were able to generate 100% of the electricity needed in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness, and homes fitted with solar hot water panels were able to generate 100% of an average household’s hot water needs in Aberdeen and Dundee, 98% in Inverness, 97% in Edinburgh, and 94% in Glasgow.

Wind turbines in Scotland generated 692,896 MWh of electricity to the National Grid, which is enough to supply, on average, the electrical needs of 76% of Scottish households, or around 1.8 million homes. More specifically, wind energy generated enough electricity on 10 out of the 31 days of May to supply 100% or more of household needs. At the end of the month, wind power in Scotland for the month of May generated 36% of Scotland’s entire electricity needs for the month.

“For the tens of thousands of Scottish households that have already installed solar panels, there was enough sun to potentially meet all of their electricity or hot water needs, helping to reduce our reliance on polluting fossil fuels,” said Lang Banks, WWF-Scotland’s director.

“These figures underline the fantastic progress Scotland has made on harnessing renewables, especially to generate electricity. However, with less than 13 per cent of our total energy needs coming from renewable sources, it’s now time to widen our attention on de-carbonising our economy beyond just our power sector.

“That’s why the forthcoming review of Scotland’s energy strategy must set a target of meeting at least half of all our energy needs from renewables by 2030. In the same way Ministers helped drive forward progress in renewable electricity through targets, setting higher ambition for covering all of our energy needs would help give clarity about the transition and the greater certainty to investors.”

“The data clearly shows that there’s plenty of sunshine to meet a significant proportion of an average family’s electricity and hot water needs during some months of the year and that it isn’t just during the summer months that this contribution is felt,” added Karen Robinson of WeatherEnergy. “It’s clear that when it comes to generating clean power, Scotland is one country others are already watching closely. Imagine what a global leadership role Scotland could play if it now followed up its success on renewable electricity with steps to green its entire energy system.”