A RECORD amount of renewable electricity was generated in Scotland in April, May and June of this year.
A total of 7358 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable electricity was generated in the second quarter of the year – a 36% increase on the same quarter last year and more than 25% greater than any second quarter previously recorded.
This contributed to 18,568 GWh of renewable electricity being generated in the first half of 2022 – up 29% on the same period in 2021.
Higher wind speeds, increased rainfall and additional capacity coming online contributed to the increases.
Renewable electricity capacity increased by 10.5% from June 2021 to 13.3 gigawatts in June 2022, driven largely by new wind farms becoming operational.
A further 16.7 GW of renewable electricity is currently in the pipeline, which doesn’t include any of the ScotWind projects, which could deliver a further 27.6 GW of capacity in the coming years.
The Scottish Government is co-hosting a World Energy Council summit in Aberdeen on Thursday which will focus on three pressing issues: Energy security, affordability and sustainability.
Net Zero and Energy Secretary Michael Matheson said: “We are in the midst of an energy crisis which has been compounded by the illegal war in Ukraine.
“It has prompted governments across the world to consider how we avoid this situation happening in the future.
“Scotland’s energy transition can increase security of supply and help to make us far more resilient to future international energy price fluctuations.
“Wind power is already one of the cheapest forms of electricity and our expansion plans for both on and offshore wind – supported by other renewable technologies such as hydro power – provides a fantastic opportunity to support an energy transition that not only delivers on our climate obligations, but which ensures a fair and just transition for Scotland’s energy sector as we journey to becoming a net zero nation.”
Commenting on the record renewable energy production, Fabrice Leveque, climate and energy policy manager at WWF Scotland said: “It’s great to see Scotland breaking records again for renewable power generation thanks to new power stations coming online and windy weather.
“With sky high fossil fuel prices causing a cost-of-living crisis, renewable electricity is helping to lower energy bills and cut carbon pollution.
“The challenge ahead is converting as much of our heating and transport to run on clean, home-grown renewables to protect us against volatile prices and climate change.”
In 2020, Scotland’s renewable energy industry supported 27,000 full-time jobs and generated £5.6 billion of output.
