Thursday 29 March 2012

Scotland set to smash green targets

Scotland is set to hit its green energy targets and more this year, as the country's Energy Minister said he expected around 35% of Scotland's electricity to come from renewables in 2011, beating the Scottish Government's target of 31%.

Statistics published today show the amount of renewable electricity generated in 2011 rose by 45% on 2010 levels to 13,750 Gigawatt hours.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing was less than subtle about where much of the UK's renewable energy was being produced: "It's official - 2011 was a record breaker, with enough green electricity being produced in Scotland to comfortably beat our interim target. And Scotland met almost 40% of the UK's renewables output in 2011, demonstrating just how much the rest of the UK needs our energy."

The Scottish Government's target is to meet the equivalent of 100% of total annual electricity demand from renewables by 2020. There are currently 7 GW of renewable projects operating, under construction or consented in Scotland.