Energy generation
Wind energy generation in Scotland is at an all-time high – and current Scottish demand, and all future Scottish demand, is already met.
The latest Scottish government energy statistics (published 28th March 2024) show that renewable energy technologies are already generating 15.3GW of power in Scotland, with a further 25.9GW in the pipeline.
This is a total of 41.2GW.
Compare this with OFGEM’s predicted future demand in Scotland of 9.4GW in the Winter and 7GW in the Summer, by 2050.
There is already excess generation in Scotland.
RenewableUK’s recent report forecasts that Scotland's contribution to the UK's onshore wind capacity will increase from 60% (8.3GW) in 2020 to 75% (20.7GW) by the end of 2030. Whereas, England's share of wind power is predicted to keep falling, from 21% in 2020 to 11% in 2030.
The National Grid only has the capacity to distribute 6.1GW from Scotland to England. On windy days when surplus power is generated, the National Grid currently has to compensate wind farm operators to discard their power. This cost is currently up to £62 million a day.
Upgrading the National Grid will cost £58 billion and will not be complete until 2035. If Scotland is to increase its renewables supply, the UK government will need to upgrade the National Grid, and make it more profitable to store surplus wind power.
The predicted high levels of renewable electricity generation in Scotland, combined with the modest levels of consumption and the limited capacity to transfer electricity south, means that significant amounts of electricity is going to waste and is costing huge sums of money.
2023 Q4 energy statistics (published in March 2024)
Note that 1 GW could power approximately 750,000 homes
