Wind powers 98% of Scotland’s total electricity demand for October

A WWF Scotland analysis of data from WeatherEnergy has revealed that wind turbines generated 98% of all electricity demand across the country last month.

Energy generated October was enough to power nearly five million homes in Scotland.

WWF Scotland further explained that 23 October was the best in the month when the wind turbines generated 105,900.94MWh of clean energy against National Grid demand for the month, which was 1,850,512MWh.

This means that energy generated on that day was enough to power 8.72 million homes or 356% of households in the country.

WWF Scotland acting director Sam Gardner said: “What a month October proved to be, with wind powering on average 98% 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 at a time when we need to be scaling up electrification of heat and transport.”

WeatherEnergy is part of the European EnergizAIR project that is backed by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme and led by the European Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation.

Weather Energy project manager at Severn Wye Energy Agency Alex Wilcox Brooke 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.”