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Scotland's wind turbines are becoming increasingly efficient at meeting the nation's power needs
Wind turbines produced double the amount of power required to meet Scotland's electricity needs Monday, according to researchers.Environmental group WWF Scotland said Friday that analysis of data provided by WeatherEnergy showed the country's wind turbines sent 86,467 megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid on Monday.That day, total electricity consumption in Scotland – including homes, industry and businesses – was 41,866 megawatt hours, WWF Scotland said, meaning that wind power produced the equivalent of 206 percent of the nation's needs.Taking just households into account, the powerful winds produced enough to power 7.116 million homes — almost three times the number of residential properties in Scotland."Monday proved to be a great day for renewable electricity output, with wind turbines alone providing enough to power 7 million homes and way more than Scotland's total electricity needs," Sam Gardner, WWF Scotland's director, said in a statement."We're blown away by these figures but they are part of a pattern of increasingly green power production made possible thanks to many years of political support in Scotland," Gardner added. "Across the year, renewables now contribute over half of our electricity needs."Friday's analysis builds upon a recent series of impressive wind power figures for Scotland. In July, WWF Scotland said that wind produced enough power to meet, on average, the electrical needs of 124 percent of Scottish homes between January and June of this year.The first six months of 2017 saw turbines send more than 6.6 million megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid, enough to supply a little over 3 million Scottish homes. This was a 24 percent increase compared to the previous record-breaking period of January to June 2015.The news comes at the end of a week in which Scotland's energy minister said that fracking "cannot and will not take place in Scotland.""Taking full account of the available evidence and strength of public opinion today, my judgment is that Scotland should say no to fracking," Paul Wheelhouse said in a statement Tuesday to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Wind turbines produced double the amount of power required to meet Scotland's electricity needs Monday, according to researchers. Environmental group WWF Scotland said Friday that analysis of data provided by WeatherEnergy showed the country's wind turbines sent 86,467 megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid on Monday. That day, total electricity consumption in Scotland – including homes, industry and businesses – was 41,866 megawatt hours, WWF Scotland said, meaning that wind power produced the equivalent of 206 percent of the nation's needs. Taking just households into account, the powerful winds produced enough to power 7.116 million homes — almost three times the number of residential properties in Scotland. "Monday proved to be a great day for renewable electricity output, with wind turbines alone providing enough to power 7 million homes and way more than Scotland's total electricity needs," Sam Gardner, WWF Scotland's director, said in a statement. "We're blown away by these figures but they are part of a pattern of increasingly green power production made possible thanks to many years of political support in Scotland," Gardner added. "Across the year, renewables now contribute over half of our electricity needs." Friday's analysis builds upon a recent series of impressive wind power figures for Scotland. In July, WWF Scotland said that wind produced enough power to meet, on average, the electrical needs of 124 percent of Scottish homes between January and June of this year. The first six months of 2017 saw turbines send more than 6.6 million megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid, enough to supply a little over 3 million Scottish homes. This was a 24 percent increase compared to the previous record-breaking period of January to June 2015. The news comes at the end of a week in which Scotland's energy minister said that fracking "cannot and will not take place in Scotland." "Taking full account of the available evidence and strength of public opinion today, my judgment is that Scotland should say no to fracking," Paul Wheelhouse said in a statement Tuesday to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.
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