Wind turbines generated 98% of October electricity demand in Scotland

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

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% of all Scotland’s electricity demand or enough to power nearly five million homes last month, the group said.

Demand that day was 45,274.5MWh and wind generation was 234% of that.

Dr Sam Gardner, acting director at WWF Scotland, 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.”

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

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

The majority of the turbines were onshore, with offshore ones accounting for 0.3% 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.

The best day was October 23 when turbines generated 105,900.94 MWh, enough to power 8.72 million homes or 356% of households, according to WWF Scotland analysis of data from WeatherEnergy.