Wind turbines in Scotland produced enough power to meet 98 per cent of the country’s electricity demand in October, according to new data published by WWF Scotland.
The environmental group said demand on the transmission network totalled 1.85TWh during the period. Meanwhile, windfarms generated 1.82TWh of electricity – a new monthly record.
Wind output peaked on 23 October at 105.9GWh, powering 8.72 million homes (over three times the number in Scotland). Power demand was 45.3GWh, with wind generation providing more than double that amount.
Sam Gardner, acting director at WWF Scotland, said: “What a month October proved to be, with wind powering on average 98 per cent of Scotland’s entire electricity demand for the month, and exceeding our total demand for a staggering 16 out of 31 days.
“These figures clearly show wind is working, it’s helping reduce our emissions and is the lowest cost form of new power generation. It’s also popular, with a recent survey also showing more and more people support turbines in rural areas.”
Gardner added: “That’s why it’s essential that the UK government unlocks market access for onshore wind at a time when we need to be scaling up electrification of heat and transport.”
The worst day of the month was 18 October when wind output was 18.3GWh, powering just over 1.5 million homes (62 per cent of Scottish households).
However, on 16 days during October wind generation was more than 100 per cent of demand across the country, while on 27 days output surpassed household demand.
Alex Wilcox Brooke, weather energy project manager at Severn Wye Energy Agency said: “October’s figures are a prime example of how reliable and consistent wind production can be”.
The data was provided by Weather Energy, part of the EnergizAIR scheme – an EU initiative to improve public understanding of renewable energy resources. The project currently has partners in 11 European countries. Severn Wye Energy Agency is the UK partner.
Wind data
| Wind output (MWh)
|
Load Factor | Number of homes | % of all households |
| October ‘18 | |||
| 1,820,950 | 43% | 4,834,594 | 197% |
| October ’17 | |||
| 1,727,603 | 40% | 4,586,759 | 189% |
| October ‘16 | |||
| 792,717 | 21% | 2,104,651 | 87% |
| October ‘15 | |||
| 625,341 | 17% | 1,660,270 | 69% |
| October ‘14 | |||
| 990,130 | 33% | 2,628,780 | 109% |
Source: WWF Scotland, Weather Energy