October saw more wind power sourced electricity produced in Scotland than would have been consumed by the nation’s households according to WWF Scotland.
WWF Scotland reports wind turbines generated an estimated 982,842MWh of electricity in October. This is enough to power 3,045,000 homes and equivalent to 126% of the electricity needs of every home in Scotland.
Also during October, solar irradiation levels were enough to meet an estimated 46% of the electricity needs of an average home in Edinburgh through the use of solar panels. For residences fitted with an appropriately sized solar hot water system, there was enough sunshine to meet an estimated 41% of an average household’s hot water needs.
“While nuclear power plants were being forced to shut because of cracks, Scotland’s wind and sunshine were quietly and cleanly helping to keep the lights on in homes across the country,” said WWF Scotland’s director Lang Banks. ” With wind power generating enough electricity to power 126% of the needs of every home in Scotland, it really was a bumper month for renewables in Scotland.”
Scotland has set a target to source 100 per cent of its electricity via renewables by 2020 and is well and truly on track to meet a 2015 interim target of 50%. At the end of last year, renewables accounted for more than 46% of Scotland’s electricity needs.
According to Scottish Renewables, renewable electricity generation had more than doubled from 8,215GWh in 2007 to 16,974 GWh in 2013.
The nation’s renewable capacity bypassed 7GW by the end of the second quarter of this year; with onshore wind accounting for over 69 per cent of installed capacity. Hydro and biomass are Scotland’s other major sources of renewable power.
More than 13GW of additional capacity in Scotland is in planning stages or already given the green light.
Scotland’s largest wind facility is Whitelee Windfarm near Glasgow. At 539 megawatts capacity, it generates enough electricity to power just under 300,000 homes.
