The Scottish Government

Title

Amount of electricity from renewable sources.

National Indicator/Target

50% of electricity generated in Scotland to come from

renewable sources by 2020 (interim target of 31% by 2011)

Brief description

This indicator helps monitor the extent to which Scottish electricity consumption can be met sustainably using renewable energy sources located both within Scotland and its coastal waters. The indicator equates to the amount of renewables generated in Scotland as a percentage of Scottish gross consumption, where gross consumption is the amount of electricity generated minus net exports (but including losses).

Strategic Objective(s) to Which Indicator Relates

The indicator informs progress towards a Greener Scotland by measuring renewable sources of electricity. The indicator also informs progress towards a Wealthier and Fairer Scotland since increasing renewables may provide new economic opportunities for Scotland. Meeting the target will involve investment in new generating capacity.

More Detailed Definitions

Definitions of Keywords

Electricity generated in Scotland is electricity generated in Scotland by both those producing electricity to sell to others and autogenerators, companies producing electricity mainly for their own use.

Renewable sources of energy include on and offshore wind, wave and tidal, hydroelectricity and solar energy. Solid renewable energy sources include wood, straw, short rotation coppice, other biomass and the biodegradable fraction of wastes. Gaseous renewables consist of landfill gas and sewage gas, as well as synthetic gas produced using the biodegradable portion of mixed wastes. Non-biodegradable wastes are not counted as a renewable source.

Scottish gross electricity consumption is the amount of electricity consumed which is computed as total electricity generated less exports plus imports.
% of electricity generated in Scotland to come from

renewable sources should be interpreted as the amount of electricity generated in Scotland by renewables as a percentage of Scottish gross electricity consumption.

Evidence Source

Data is collected and published by BERR. The unit of measurement is electricity generated as a percentage of the gross electricity consumption. It is a direct measure. The rationale for this measure is that if the indicator was 100% it would imply that all the electricity consumed in Scotland could be generated from renewable sources.

Baseline and Past Trends

The baseline is calendar year 2006.

Data for the period 2000-2005 are shown in the attached chart. In 2005, electricity generated from renewables sources equated to 15.5% of the whole amount of electricity consumed in Scotland. Data for 2006 will be published in January 2008.

Chart: Electricity generated by renewables as a percentage of gross consumption (Generaton-exports+imports)
Target - 31% by 2011, 50% by 2020; Baseline - 2006

Source: Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Methodology

The indicator is the amount of electricity generated from renewables sources, expressed as a percentage of gross electricity consumption in Scotland.

Indicator = electricity generated by renewable sources/(total electricity generated - electricity exported +electricity imported) multiplied by 100.

Data Ownership and Quality Assurance

The evidence source is National Statistics, and the data is provided by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform ( BERR).

Publication of Data

Data for the previous year appears annually in the December issue of Energy Trends (published by BERR in January of the following year but one - i.e. 2006 data will be published in January 2008). Revisions for the previous year are published alongside the current year.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file36183.pdf

Data including revisions over the whole time series (since 2000) are published on the Scottish Government website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Environment/seso/Q/TID/18