Glasgow was named last September as the host for the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26), and Scotland has an overall goal to source the equivalent of 100% of its electricity demand from renewable energy sources by the end of this year.

And it is shaping up to do just that. Having closed its last coal-fired power plant in 2016, the UK country’s only remaining fossil fuel source is a gas-fired power station at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.

In the meantime, Scotland has been making great progress on renewables – and particularly wind power.

On the technology front, it lays claim to installing the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, the 30MW Hywind project, to which it added last June a 1MW onshore battery storage system.

And in terms of output, a new national record was set in November last year, with production outstripping demand on 20 out of 30 days and over the whole month providing 109 per cent of electricity demand.

Scotland’s largest source of renewables – the Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm – can generate enough power for 450,000 homes. And the Seagreen Wind Farm, which is being built off Angus, will be bigger again, and able to power one million homes once completed.

And while it’s not quite officially 100 per cent renewable yet – according to the BBC the most recent official figure was 76.2%, based on 2018 data – a recent report from Scottish Renewables estimates it will hit its mark within the year thanks largely to ambitious and forward-thinking government policy.

As well as its 100 per cent renewables target, the Scottish government has set itself a legally-binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045, five years ahead of the UK.

All told, this will provide great inspiration for COP26, which is being billed as one of the most important international climate conferences since Paris in 2015.

The two-week meeting – from November 9-19 – is considered pivotal for a number of reasons, not least being that 2020 is the year when all countries are asked to submit their new long-term climate goals.

 

Source: Renew Economy