WIREDGOV

Scotland’s onshore wind turbines’ output up a record 44% on first three months of 2017

Onshore wind turbines provided 5,353,997 MWh to the National Grid during the first three months of 2018, an increase of 44% on the same period last year, environmental groups said yesterday (Mon 9 April). [1]

In January alone, renewable wind powered the equivalent of over five million homes; that’s well over twice the number of households in Scotland.

Analysis by WWF of wind power data [1] provided by WeatherEnergy found that:

• Wind turbines in Scotland provided over 5,353,997 MWh of electricity to the National Grid during the quarter.
• Wind generated enough power to provide the equivalent of approximately five million homes with electricity on average over the quarter.
• Best day was 1st March when generation was 110,149MWh, enough to power 9,065,020 homes, that’s the equivalent to 374% of Scottish households.  Total Demand on the grid that day was 63,807 and so wind power could have supplied 173% of demand.
• Worst day was 11th January when generation was 6,995MWh, powering 575,720 homes.

These incredible statistics for the first quarter of 2018 come fresh on the heels of data showing that 68% of Scotland’s overall electricity demand was from renewables in 2017 [2] and that renewables overtook nuclear as the second biggest source of power UK-wide in quarter 4 of 2017. [3]

Dr Sam Gardner, WWF Scotland’s Acting Director said:

“Renewables have provided an incredible amount of power during the first three months of this year.  An increase of 44 per cent on the record-breaking equivalent period in 2017 is clear evidence the investment made in this technology has paid off for the economy and the environment, putting Scotland at the forefront of the fight against climate change.

“However, if Scotland’s full renewables potential is to be unleashed to power our economy, heat our homes and charge our cars, then the UK Government needs to stop excluding the cheapest forms of power, like onshore wind and solar, from the market.”

Karen Robinson of WeatherEnergy said:

“It’s great to see renewables continuing to power Scotland, adding to the year on year evidence that greater investment in both renewables and storage is the way forward.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] Part of a joint project to help the public better understand the nation’s renewable energy resource, the data is provided by WeatherEnergy, part of the European EnergizAIR project, supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme, led by the European Agency for Competiveness and Innovation (EACI). Severn Wye Energy Agency is the UK partner.

http://www.weatherenergy.co.uk

Further technical information can be found here:

http://www.weatherenergy.co.uk/sites/default/files/About%20WeatherEnergy_technical%20%282%29_0.pdf

[2]  News article on record year for renewables generation: https://news.gov.scot/news/record-year-for-renewables-generation

[3]  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/695797/Electricity.pdf