Talking-up Scotland

(Photo PA)

Scotland produced 54% of its electricity in 2016 from renewable sources and in the first half of 2017 saw a 17% increase in generation. So, for the whole of 2017 we can, perhaps, expect an increase of 30% over the previous year. Now, in 2015, all sources generated just over 50 000 Gigawatt hours.

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/TrendElectricity

So, 54% of that in 2016 would be 27 000 Gigawatt hours. An extra 30%, say, of the 27 000 would be 8 100 giving a total of 35 100 and that would be 70% of total demand! The 100% target for 2030 looks well within reach well before target.

Scotland had also reduced its demand in 2015 by 15.4% compared to 2005-2007. That beat the Scottish Government’s 12% energy consumption reduction target for 2020, five years early.

https://news.gov.scot/news/rise-in-renewable-electricity