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Scottish renewables industry on track for best year ever

22 December 2011

Scottish Renewables has welcomed new statistics published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change which shows that, in the first nine months of this year, Scotland equalled 83 per cent of total renewable electricity production in 2009 and 94 per cent of that in 2010. 

Commenting on the statistics Jenny Hogan, Director of Policy for Scottish Renewables, said: “These new figures should go a long way to silencing the critics of the renewables sector in Scotland. We expect the final figures for the remaining quarter of this year to prove 2011 has been a record breaking year for Scotland’s renewables industry. 

“Not only are we securing jobs and investment for Scotland but this industry is punching well above its weight compared to the rest of the UK. Despite having only 8 per cent of the total UK population, Scotland produced 37 per cent of the UK’s total renewable electricity generation in 2010.

“In that one year Scotland’s renewables industry generated almost as much electricity as Dounreay’s nuclear reactors did over their 30 year lifetime.

“Last year’s figures were down from 2009 due to low rainfall - around a third of the long term average. Even in this year of calm and dry weather, renewables delivered around a quarter of Scotland’s electricity needs and cut more than 4 million tonnes of CO2(around 8 per cent of Scotland’s total emissions) – making a significant contribution towards our 42 per cent reduction target.”

* Picture: RWE npower River E hydro scheme *

Notes to Editors

  1. The Department of Energy and Climate Change Energy Trends December 2011.
  2. According to figures published in September from the Department of Energy and Climate Change Scotland’s renewables sector produced 9515.3 GWh in 2010. Michael Weir (Angus, Scottish National Party) asked a question in Parliament which found Dounreay’s reactors generated reactors generated a total of 9,835 GWh of electricity  Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 5 December 2011, c40W) in its lifetime.
  3. Scotland has a target of cutting 42 per cent of our CO2 emissions by 2020.
  4. Scottish Government Energy Statistics Summary, December 2011