Scotland now generating more than half of electricity from renewables

Based on the latest consumption figures from 2014, renewables now generate the equivalent of 57 per cent of Scotland’s power needs.

The amount of electricity generated in Scotland from renewable energy increased by more than 15 per cent last year.

Figures from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change said Scottish renewable energy generated more than quarter of the UK’s green electricity.

The figure for England was 65 per cent, 6.1 per cent for Wales and 2.5 per cent in Northern Ireland.

Across the UK, renewable energy generated nearly quarter of all electricity output. It was less than a fifth in 2014.

The new figures show Scotland is now more than halfway towards its target of producing the equivalent of 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Jenny Hogan, director of policy for Scottish Renewables said: “This is another important milestone for our industry and shows renewables are now a mainstream part of our power sector.

“There is still a huge amount of potential for future growth, if the industry is given the right backing by government.”

Ms Hogan warned that there is doubt over how achievable the next target set for the industry is.

She said: “Despite having enough projects in the pipeline, recent changes to government support, and hold ups in the consenting process for offshore wind farms, have set us on a path to fall short of the 2020 target.”

The figures from DECC also show that output from renewable energy sources in Scotland grew by 15% from 2014 which has been largely due to an increase in onshore wind, hydro and solar generation.

These approximate statistics will be confirmed once the consumption figure of electricity in 2015 is made available later this year.