SCOTLAND has generated more renewable electricity so far this year than in any other, according to fresh statistics.
Quarterly figures show Scotland generated the most renewable electricity in the first half of any year, generating 7312 Gigawatt hours (GWh) in the second quarter of 2024 – a 27.9% increase from the same period in 2023.
In the first half of 2024, Scotland generated 18,084 GWh of renewable electricity, up 13.7% on 2023 and above the previous high recorded in the first half of 2022.
Gillian Martin, acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, said the statistics underline the potential of Scotland’s energy transition to support “high-quality green jobs”.
Martin (below) said: “These are hugely encouraging figures, with the long-term trend showing a significant increase in the amount of renewable electricity generated in Scotland.
“Renewable energy capacity has also increased by 5% since June last year, and there are currently more than 800 renewable electricity projects, with an estimated capacity of more than 50 Gigawatts (GW), in the planning and construction pipeline.
“This underlines the potential of our energy transition to support high quality green jobs.”
Scotland’s total final energy consumption continues to fall and was 18% lower in 2022 than the baseline figure from 2005 – 2007.
Martin added: “This combination of reduced consumption and greater renewables capacity will be essential to delivering our net zero ambitions.”
Energy consumption in the transport and non-domestic sectors has risen from 2021 levels but the total final energy consumption of households in Scotland has seen an 11% fall from 2021.
The largest reductions have been in household electricity and gas consumption and in commercial oil consumption.
In the last 12 months, renewable electricity capacity has risen, up 5% from June 2023 to 15.6% GW in June 2024. This is due to increases in onshore and offshore wind capacity.
As of June 2024, there are 830 potential renewable electricity projects including battery and pumped hydro storage within the planning and construction pipeline with an estimated capacity of 51.3 GW.
There are 75 projects under construction, most of which are wind (32 projects with an estimated capacity of 3.2 GW) or battery storage technologies (12 projects with an estimated capacity of 1.4 GW).
There are 455 projects which have had planning applications approved and are awaiting construction and a further 300 projects which have submitted planning applications.
