Publication sets out renewable energy benefits

A document setting out renewable energy’s contribution to Scotland in five key areas is launched today (Monday September 23).

The publication, produced as part of the ongoing Scottish Renewable Energy Festival (Sept 16 – Oct 1) sets out green energy’s contribution to Scotland on innovation, jobs, communities, climate and the rural economy.

Key facts include:

• Huge cost reductions in wind and solar power, highlighted by green energy auction results last week(Sept 20)
• Renewable energy employs 17,700 people in Scotland
• Hundreds of community energy projects supported across Scotland
• Renewables like wind, solar and hydropower are Scotland’s main source of electricity.

The document also sets out case studies including that of the Isle of Gigha, which is home to one of the first community-owned grid-connected wind farms in Scotland, and the Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm in Moray, where more than 75 skilled technicians worked through summer 2019.

It also looks in depth at the range of jobs involved in the planning, construction and operation of a typical wind farm – including archaeologists, crane operators and insurance brokers.

The Scottish Renewable Energy Festival, organised by industry body Scottish Renewables, showcases the sector. It launched on September 16 with the results of a survey which showed Scots are thinking more about how their homes are powered as their fears over climate change have risen.

Claire Mack, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, told how the Scottish Renewable Energy Festival is “a chance for an industry which is now Scotland’s main source of electricity to shout about its successes and look to the future”.

She said:

“The Scottish Renewable Energy Festival provides a chance for our 260 members, as well as our industry’s wider supply chain, to celebrate their contribution to five areas which make Scotland what it is today.

"This publication sets out just some of the many benefits renewable energy is bringing to Scotland, from islands which rely on wind power for their everyday energy to rural businesses which have turned to renewable heat to improve their sustainability, both economically and financially.

“I’m hugely proud that renewable energy projects across Scotland are delivering on jobs and for communities, particularly in rural areas, while helping to displace the carbon emissions which cause climate change.”

The new publication can be downloaded from Scottish Renewables’ website, and a limited number of copies are available from the organisation’s office in Glasgow.