Wind turbines '˜generating 98% of electricity demand'

Wind turbines generated the equivalent of 98 per cent of all Scotland's electricity demand in October, according to new analysis.

Turbines generated the equivalent of 98 per cent of all Scotlands electricity demand or enough to power nearly five million homes last month, the group said. Picture: Ian Rutherford Blacklaw

WWF Scotland said that National Grid demand for the month was 1,850,512 MWh and that almost all of this could have been provided by wind turbines, which provided record levels of power.

Turbines generated the equivalent of 98 per cent of all Scotland’s electricity demand or enough to power nearly five million homes last month, the group said.

The best day was 23 October when turbines generated 105,900.94 MWh, enough to power 8.72 million homes or 356 per cent of households, according to WWF Scotland analysis of data from WeatherEnergy. Demand that day was 45,274.5MWh and wind generation was 234 per cent of that.

Dr 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.

“That’s why it’s essential that the UK government unlocks market access for onshore wind.”

The worst day was 18 October when generation was 18,377.71MWh, enough to power 1,512,568 homes, 62 per cent of households.

On 27 days generation was over 100 per cent of households while on 16 days generation was more than 100 per cent of demand.

The majority of the turbines were onshore, with offshore ones accounting for 0.3 per cent of output in October.

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, with production on 16 days outstripping national demand.”

The data comes from WeatherEnergy, part of the European EnergizAIR project which is supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme and led by the European Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation.