Wind farm electricity output drastically fell away as a high pressure system throughout June, July and August gave the country a welcome break from months of rain.
The massive drop in energy production during the weeks of hot, windless weather has seen wind farm critics claim the strategy will see the “lights go out” in Scotland.
In total turbines produced 1,044GWh (gigawatt hours) of electricity in June, 4.7 per cent of the total 22,335MWh input from all sources into the National Grid.
In July that total dropped to just 726GWh – or 3.1 per cent, of the total.
The statistics for this month lie at 667MWh, which is 5.1 per cent of the total output.During one week-long period at the height of the heatwave, one wind farm – Bilbster, near Wick – was generating enough to boil little more than 180 kettles, instead of the intended equivalent of 1,300.
First Minister Alex Salmond hopes renewables will eventually meet all of Scotland’s energy needs.
The Scottish Government has a goal of generating 50 per cent of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2015 and 100 per cent by 2020.
Anti-wind farm campaigners said the figures proved that the Scottish Government was on the wrong track.
Linda Holt, of Scotland Against Spin, said: “Wind is completely variable and completely unpredictable, which means it can only ever be an adjunct to a proper energy supply that is steady and predictable such as fossil fuels, nuclear or hydro.
via Heatwave dampens green energy hopes | UK | News | Daily Express.
Heatwave dampens green energy hopes
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