Scotland on course to meet renewable energy targets as giant tidal project gets boost
Elaine Brass
2nd April 2009
Figures released by the Scottish Government show that Scotland is on course to reach its energy targets of 50 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2020, with an interim target of 31 per cent by 2011.
The total installed capacity of renewables in Scotland is over three gigawatts; adding in all the potential energy from consented renewable projects to those already operating brings the total to over 5.5 gigawatts (around 35 per cent of electricity demand).
At the same time, Scotland plan’s for the world’s largest tidal energy project on the
Pentland Firth has been boosted with Statkraft, Europe’s largest
generator of renewable energy, signing up to the project alongside the
Atlantis Resource Corporation, the global developers of
electricity-generating tidal current turbines.
Commenting on the latest set of figures on Scottish renewable energy, First Minister Alex Salmond said: "Our potential to generate electricity from renewables is up to 60 gigawatts – 10 times Scotland's peak electricity demand. The economic and environmental potential is vast, and significant on a European and global as well as Scottish basis.
"Green energy is forecast to create some 16,000 jobs over the next decade, we have plans to generate 50 per cent of Scotland's electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and beyond that we have the ability to create enough power to meet the nation's energy demand up to 10 times over.”
Talking about the economic potential of offshore renewables, Salmond added: "Scotland has a fantastic competitive advantage in developing offshore renewable – with a quarter of Europe's tidal and offshore wind energy resource, and a world class scientific capacity and skills base. Developers are competing to build offshore wind farms at 10 sites around Scotland, with the potential to generate a massive six Gigawatts of power. Never before have we been so well placed to become the green energy capital of Europe – with offshore renewables set to deliver an economic boost as significant as North Sea oil.”
Timothy Cornelius, ceo
of Atlantis, said of the Pentland Firth project that it was “unquestionably one of
today’s most exciting renewable energy opportunities.”