Renewables Scotland
T
his November the eyes of the world will be on Glasgow as the city plays host to the 2020 United Nations Conference on Climate Change, known as ‘COP26’, with world leaders joined by more than 30,000 delegates to discuss how to tackle the climate emergency on a global level. The footage of bush fires in Australia and floods in Indonesia show just how serious the impacts of future, increased climate chaos could be.
From strength to strength Scotland was chosen as host nation thanks to our leadership on climate action: we were one of the first countries in the world to acknowledge the global climate emergency, with the Scottish Government introducing the most ambitious emissions reductions targets in the UK, and the world, to ensure our aspiration and action reflect the scale of the task the global community requires of us. Our high level of ambition and commitment to action now underpins everything we do – including our approach to energy. We know that our energy system will require major changes to the way we do things currently, but Scotland is second to none for supporting innovation, and our natural assets leave us well placed to seize the opportunities that the energy transition presents – creating jobs and attracting investment in the process.
Turning the tide Marine energy, for example, has an important role to play in the energy transition and we are doing everything we can to support it. In February 2019, we launched a £10m Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund to bolster commercial deployment of tidal energy generation and help overcome the UK Government’s failure to provide a route to market for the technology. In the first award, we provided £3.4m to help Orbital Marine construct the world’s most powerful tidal turbine, capable of powering more than 1,700 homes per year, and that funding is supporting a high level of Scottish supply chain content. We also provided £10m to the Wave Energy Scotland programme, taking our total funding support for the wave energy sector to nearly £40m since 2014.
Leading the
clean energy revolution Scotland is leading the charge when it comes to renewable energy, writes Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Scotland’s Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy Scotland’s gas and electricity networks up to 2030. The ‘Networks Vision Statement’ explores further opportunities for the generation of low-carbon hydrogen, and the use of gas networks for its distribution and storage – allowing government to determine whether low-carbon gases like hydrogen via our gas networks, for example, could be a deliverable option for some of our heat and transport fuel needs. Our Hydrogen Assessment Project will examine the potential for hydrogen in our economy and energy system and will report by this summer.
Getting net-zero done Green gas In March 2019, we published our plan for
The generation of electricity from renewable sources is very important for Scotland’s future.
Statistics from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy show that in 2018 a record 76.2% of Scotland’s electricity demand was supplied from renewable sources, and the installed renewable electricity generation capacity grew by 8.5% in the year to September 2019 to reach a new record of 11.7GW in total. That is something that we are very proud of, but we need to push on, because electricity demand will continue to grow as we decarbonise Scotland’s heating and transport systems, too. We are leading by example by accelerating efforts to use 100% renewable electricity on the Scottish public estate. Our next Energy Statement will set out the extent to which renewable and low-carbon energy generation
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