Scotland's Wind Turbines Deliver 100% Of Daily Electricity Needs On 7th August

Scotland's wind turbines met 100% of daily electricity needs on 7th August 2016, an event which is likely to happen increasingly often as the capacity of wind turbines in Scotland continues to grow.

High winds in Scotland on 7th August Sunday generated sufficient renewable energy output to provide 106% of Scotland’s electricity needs for a day. The analysis of renewable energy output by WeatherEnergy showed wind turbines in Scotland generating power equivalent to more than cover the entire country’s electricity needs.

Wind turbines in Scotland generated 39,545 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity on Sunday 7th August, while the country’s total power consumption for homes, business and industry was 37,202 MWh. Overall during this 24 hour period wind power generated 106% of Scotland’s electricity needs. Karen Robinson, of WeatherEnergy, said: “Electricity demand during weekends is usually lower than the rest of the week. “Nevertheless, the fact that wind power was able to generate the equivalent of all Scotland’s electricity needs shows just how far renewables have come.”

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “Scotland’s abundant energy resources play a vital role in delivering security of electricity supply across the UK. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting onshore wind, which is one of our most cost-effective low-carbon energy technologies. We remain fully supportive of low-carbon technologies, which offer a huge economic opportunity for Scotland and have a key role to play in our fight against the threat posed by climate change to our society and natural environment. We have a clear policy for an energy mix to provide energy security for the future and will set out our ambitions for an integrated approach to low-carbon technologies within our draft energy strategy later this year. This will include exploring the option of setting a new renewable energy target.”