On shore wind power may be unpopular in some parts of the UK, but in Scotland at least, the benefits are becoming clear. There, on-shore and offshore wind turbines met nearly 50% of Scotland’s electricity requirements in the first month of this year. And before swingeing UK Government cuts, UK solar power grew significantly in 2015. By James Hunt:

Wind turbines in Scotland alone provided 1,125,544 MWh of electricity to the National Grid, enough to supply, on average, the electrical needs of 123% of Scottish households.

According to new figures from WWF Scotland, wind turbines met 48% of Scotland’s electricity needs in January. The machines generated enough output to supply 100% or more of Scottish homes on 22 out of the 31 days of January.

Wind turbines in Scotland alone provided 1,125,544 MWh of electricity to the National Grid, enough to supply, on average, the electrical needs of 123% of Scottish households (2.98 million homes). Surprisingly, perhaps, this represented a decrease of 14% compared to that of January 2015, when wind energy provided 1,314,479 MWh.

Commented WWF Scotland’s Director, Lang Banks: “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. I have little doubt that 2016 will be another record year for renewables.”

“That is why,” he continued, “as we approach the Holyrood elections, we’d like to see each of the political parties commit to ensuring that 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.”

The monthly report assumes that there are 2.42 million households in Scotland, and that the average annual Scottish household electricity consumption is 4,435 kWh (greater than the UK average).

The wind power data is aggregated from nearly 8 GW of currently running wind farms in the UK, together with data from UKWED which shows the capacity of wind energy installed in each UK region, while Government data provides the wind energy capacity factor in each region – including, of course, Scotland. All of the data is combined by WeatherEnergy’s EnergizAIR computer model to produce a realistic estimate of the energy has been generated by wind turbines in each region. This is then converted into how many homes could have been provided by energy from wind power.

It is notable, the light of this Scottish success, that last year, investments in the European offshore wind industry doubled to a record €13.3 billion (£10bn).

European solar market grows 15% in 2015

There’s more good news on renewables. According to new figures from SolarPower Europe, European countries added around 8GW of solar power to the grid last year, an increase from 6.95 GW of new grid-connected capacity. This represents a 15% growth year-on-year and follows a decline from 2011 for three consecutive years.

SolarPower Europe CEO James Watson commented that most of the growth came from a ‘strong UK market’ while demand for solar in other countries had remained flat. However, it is almost certain that this powerful UK market will not continue because of the UK Government’s massive, controversial and highly criticised cuts in sector subsidies, which have already led to several large (and previously successful) UK solar firms going bust.

Said James Watson: “Solar needs clear signals from policymakers in Europe to be able to contribute to achieving the climate goals greed in Paris. With solar being competitive for residential and commercial applications in most European countries today, investors need a secure political framework for generation, self-consumption and storage of solar energy.”