WIND power in Scotland has hit a record high after output surged by almost 40 per cent last month, figures show.
The continued expansion of the country’s turbine network saw gales meet the equivalent of all Scotland’s electricity needs on two days in a single month. September’s result marks a first for the country’s growing renewables sector and Karen Robinson of industry analyst WeatherEnergy said: “The fact wind was able to generate the equivalent of all Scotland’s electricity needs is something worth celebrating. With continued expansion of wind power capacity I hope we can look forward to many more days where wind meets all of Scotland’s power needs.”
Wind turbines provided 766,120 megawatt hours to the National Grid last month – enough to meet, on average, the electrical needs of 2.1 million homes.
The figure, which covers almost 90 per cent of households, marks a 36 per cent improvement on the total for September 2015. However, output soared to 127 per cent of national need on September 24 and 107 per cent five days later.
Robinson said: “It was only back in August that we recorded the first ever day, since we began monitoring the data, where wind turbines alone generated more electricity that was needed on the day. It’s therefore wonderful to see the same repeated in September, but this time on two separate days.”
Meanwhile, there was enough early autumn sunshine to generate 70 per cent of electricity needs for average homes fitted with solar PV panels in Aberdeen and Dundee, dropping to 60 per cent in Edinburgh and Inverness and 50 per cent in Glasgow.
The September rays also provided similar levels of hot water for householders with solar hot water panels.
Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland, said: “September was an astonishing month for wind power, with output up more than a third compared to the same period last year.
“That Scotland has made such great strides in generating renewable power and addressing climate change is the result of many years of political and public support.
“However, if we are to continue to play a leading role globally in cutting carbon emissions, we need politicians to build on our renewable electricity revolution and expand it to other sectors such as heat and transport.”
More than 3,400 onshore turbines have been erected across the country, compared to fewer than 1,660 in 2012. Planning permission has been granted for an additional 1,550.
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