WWF Urge More Support Over Energy

More support is needed from politicians to reduce energy demand and boost energy storage, according to environmental campaigners.

The call from WWF Scotland came as they published figures showing that March broke records for wind power output in Scotland.

Their analysis of data showed that wind turbines alone provided the National Grid with enough electricity to supply, on average, the energy needs of 110% of Scottish households, 2.6 million homes.

This represents an increase of 16% compared to the same period last year.

Overall, wind power generated the equivalent of 57% of Scotland's total electricity consumption - domestic and non-domestic - for the month.

Maximum output was on Tuesday, when generation was an estimated 61,858MWh, enough to supply over 5 million homes.

Wind generated enough output to supply 100% or more of Scottish homes on 15 out of the 31 days of March, according to the WWF analysis.

For homes fitted with solar PV panels, there was enough sunshine to generate an estimated 75% of the electricity needs of an average home in Edinburgh, 71% in Inverness, 68% in Aberdeen, and 60% in Glasgow.

WWF Scotland's director Lang Banks said: Even though Scotland is generating so much renewable energy, it's vital that our politicians don't forget to keep supporting investment in demand reduction and energy storage, such as pumped hydro.

Doing so makes hitting our renewables targets easier and helps on those days when the wind isn't blowing so strongly.

We're not yet in summer, but for tens of thousands of homes that have installed solar panels to generate electricity or heat water, between half and three-quarters of their needs were met by the sun during March, helping to reduce reliance on polluting fossil fuels.

Given the growth in output from pollution-free wind and solar power, it's hardly surprising that opinion polls show that the vast majority of public want the next UK Government to keep supporting the deployment of even more renewables.

We urge political parties to listen to public and to do all they can to ensure Scotland is able to fully harness its massive renewable resource.''