Renewables now account for largest share of Scottish electricity generation

Renewables accounted for 49.7% of Scottish electricity generation in 2014, putting it on course to reach an interim target of 50% by the end of 2015, according to figures from the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) (16-page / 181KB PDF). The Scottish Government is targeting 100% of gross electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2020, with an interim target of 31% that was passed in 2011.

The share of Scottish electricity consumption generated by renewable technologies has steadily risen since reaching 36% in 2011 and 44.4% in 2013, , DECC said.

The share of UK-wide electricity consumption generated from renewable sources increased from 17.6% in the third quarter of 2014, to 23.5% in the third quarter of 2015, according to the same set of figures.

Renewable energy expert Nick Shenken of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the figures were "a great way for the Scottish energy industry to end the year".

"It's also some welcome positive news for the renewables sector as it grapples with recent policy announcements," he said.

"Having said that, those recent announcements – including significant reductions in feed-in tariffs (FiTs), the early closure of the Renewables Obligation (RO) for certain technologies and banding reviews for others, changes to the grandfathering of subsidy support and removal of climate change levy (CCL) exemptions to name but a few - will make the achievement of the remaining 50% required to meet 2020 commitments all the more challenging. The Scottish renewables sector is known for its resilience in the face of a challenge though, and I have every confidence that we'll find a way through," he said.

Responsibility for energy policy in Scotland, including support for renewable energy projects, is specifically reserved to the UK parliament, although planning laws covering the approval or refusal of individual projects is a matter for the Scottish Government. The UK has faced criticism from the energy industry in recent months for its plans to reduce support for renewable projects by cutting FiTs for small-scale projects and removing certain technologies from the scope of the RO before its closure to all projects in 2017.

Final proposals published this month include significant reductions to FiT rates for solar, wind and hydro power projects from 8 February 2016, and a hiatus on accreditations for the subsidy in the meantime. The government has also confirmed that the RO for solar PV with generating capacity of 5MW and below will close to new applications from 1 April 2016 subject to certain exemptions, with reduced subsidies proposed for some of the projects that remain in the scheme.