Strong winds in October helped Scottish turbines generate more than 1.7 million megawatt hours of electricity the powered the equivalent of around 4.5 million homes.
The performance capped a “spectacular month” for renewables, according to WWF Scotland.
The campaign group confirmed today that Scottish wind power provided 99 per cent of Scotland’s entire electricity demand throughout the month, based on data from weather data experts WeatherEnergy.
Wind turbines north of the border also provided more than 100 per cent of overall electricity demand in Scotland on 15 out of 31 days last month, as well as meeting the power needs of more than 4.5 million average homes, which is nearly twice the number of households in Scotland.
WWF Scotland’s acting head of policy, Gina Hanrahan, said given last month saw the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia “no one will be surprised that October proved to be a spectacular month for wind energy”.
“Fortunately our infrastructure coped well with the windy weather which provided enough to power nearly twice the number of households in Scotland and almost all of our electricity demand,” she said, adding that further investment in renewables and energy storage was now required. “This is more good news for renewables which continue to power our homes and businesses with clean electricity.”
The news comes alongside The Crown Estate’s announcement today it is considering making new seabed rights available to offshore wind developers around the UK.
The £13bn real estate business, which manages the seabed around the UK, said offshore wind was a “fantastic UK success story” and that it would be working with the sector and key stakeholders to consider making more space around UK waters available for wind farms.
Huub den Rooijen, director of energy, minerals and infrastructure at The Crown Estate, said the UK had “some of the best resources in the world” for offshore wind power.
“With costs continuing to come down at a pace and government looking at further opportunities for additional offshore wind deployment in the 2020s, it is the right time to consider what additional seabed rights may be needed to help secure the UK’s clean energy future,” he said.
More detail regarding future offshore wind leasing activity will be released in early 2018, The Crown Estate said, in a move backed by energy minister Richard Harrington. “Our Clean Growth Strategy sets out that the UK could support another 10GW of offshore wind in the 2020s, with the opportunity for more if it’s cost effective,” he said. “This announcement today is an important step towards these future projects.”
Source: businessgreen.com
