ENVIRONMENTALISTS have claimed the energy revolution is happening despite Donald Trump, as new figures show that wind power output in Scotland jumped again last month.

Solar power also benefited from May’s weather with enough sunshine to generate over 100 per cent of the electricity needs of an average household in Aberdeen, Dumfries, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Lerwick for those homes fitted with solar PV panels.

For homes fitted with solar hot water panels, there was enough sunshine to generate over 90 per cent of an average household’s hot water needs in Aberdeen, Dumfries, Dundee, Lerwick, Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Stirling.

Wind turbines in Scotland alone provided 863,495 MWh of electricity to the National Grid, enough to supply, on average, the electrical needs of 95 per cent of Scottish households — an almost 20 per cent increase compared with May 2016, when wind energy provided 692,896 MWh.

Wind generated enough output to supply 100 per cent or more of Scottish homes on 11 out of the 31 days of May.

Scotland’s total electricity consumption for May, including homes, business and industry, was 1,857,566 MWh. Wind power therefore generated the equivalent of 46 per cent of Scotland’s entire electricity needs for the month.

“Despite the disappointment of last week’s announcement that President Trump is to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, the global energy revolution is unstoppable and continues at pace here in Scotland,” said WWF Scotland’s acting director Dr Sam Gardner.

“May proved to be another great month for renewables with the wind sector meeting 95 per cent of the electricity needs of Scotland’s households. On one day in particular, May 15, output from turbines generated enough electricity to power 190 per cent of homes or 99 per cent of Scotland’s total electricity demand.

“Thanks to a super sunny month, solar was on sizzling form and could have met more than 100 per cent of household electricity demand in towns and cities across Scotland.”

He added: “Month after month renewables play a vital role in cutting carbon emissions and powering the Scottish economy. The Scottish Government’s draft Energy Strategy makes a welcome commitment to build on this progress and tackle our reliance on fossil fuels for heating and transport. We hope the final strategy sets out the clear steps the government must take to secure this vision and deliver the benefits of the renewable energy revolution.”

Karen Robinson of WeatherEnergy said: “Scotland again managed to pump out clean power by the bucketload during May. While people might not be too surprised to learn solar power output was up in May, they might be surprised to discover that wind power output was also pretty impressive.”