Scotland Wind Power “Off To A Flying Start” In January, Says WWF

February 9th, 2016 by Joshua S Hill

Scotland’s wind power output got “off to a flying start” in January, supplying 1,125,544 MWh of electricity to the National Grid.

Scotland is one of the world’s leading countries for renewable energy development, regularly and repeatedly making headlines with phenomenal generation figures. 2014 and 2015 were both big years for Scotland, with numerous records broken, especially in the field of wind energy.

And it looks as if things are set to continue.

According to analysis provided by WWF Scotland of data provided by WeatherEnergy, Scotland’s wind turbines generated 1,125,544 MWh of electricity during January, which was enough, on average, to meet the electrical needs of 123% of Scottish households.

That might sound impressive, but it is put into perspective when you consider that this figure is actually down 14% compared to January, 2015, when wind energy generated 1,314,479 MWh.

Nevertheless, wind energy in Scotland generated enough electricity to supply 100% or more of Scottish households electrical needs on 22 days out of January’s 31.

“2015 proved to be a big year for renewables, and the latest data makes clear that 2016 is already off to a flying start, with wind power alone meeting nearly half of Scotland’s total electricity needs during January,” said Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland.

“I have little doubt that 2016 will be another record year for renewables. However, what happens in the longer term will be down to our political leaders. That is why, as we approach the Holyrood elections, we’d like to see each of the political parties commit to ensuring Scotland becomes the EU’s first fully renewable electricity nation by 2030. This is an ambition with real vision that would mean Scotland captures the full benefits of its renewable potential”

“2016 has begun very much like 2015 ended, with wind power helping to supply large amounts of electricity to Scotland’s homes and businesses,” added Karen Robinson of WeatherEnergy, All this renewable output is helping to avoid carbon emissions, something more important than ever as we begin to see the damaging impacts of climate change.”









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