Scottish Renewables

A renewable energy industry body has said the UK must maintain its commitments to climate change targets. Scottish Renewables’ manifesto, launched ahead of the general election next month, details how it thinks the government can best ensure affordable energy and clean growth in the future. It highlights the importance of unlocking investment in the lowest-cost […]

The head of Scottish Renewables is to step down from his role this August. Niall Stuart has been the Chief Executive of the industry body since September 2009. He plans to set up his own consultancy focused on strategic communications, policy development and regulatory affairs. Patricia Hawthorn, Chairman of Scottish Renewables said: “Niall has led […]

Scotland should set an ambitious new target of generating 50% of its electricity, heat and transport demand from renewables by 2030. That’s the call from trade body Scottish Renewabes in a manifesto launched today ahead of May’s Scottish Parliament election. The ‘Renewed Ambitions: Defining the Future of Renewable Energy in Scotland’ sets out how the […]

A new Storage Network to bring together those with an interest in the sector has been launched. Scottish Renewables believes energy storage could help increase the use of renewable energy and cut carbon emissions. In a report titled ‘Energy Storage: The Basics’, it highlights some of the energy storage technologies available today at various scales and stages of […]

New UK energy policies are making it difficult for onshore wind developers to attract investment. A new survey highlights the sector’s concern that banks have “become reluctant” to finance projects since the UK Government decided to scrap subsidies for onshore wind from April 2016. More than half of lenders said they weren’t prepared to invest in onshore wind projects at least until […]

The number of Scottish companies, communities and farms generating their own electricity has risen by more than 50% in the last year. New figures show £80.8m was invested in 775 green technologies – up from just 509 in 2013. They included wind (497), hydro (173), solar (32) and anaerobic digestion (43). The projects generated £271 million […]

An increasing number of food and drink companies in Scotland are running on renewable energy, according to a trade body. Scottish Renewables is highlighting 12 firms using technologies such as wind, solar, biomass and hydro as part of its new ‘Made in Scotland from Renewables’ initiative. It will be launched at the Royal Highland Show, […]

More than a quarter of employees in the renewable energy sector are women – a larger proportion than in the oil and gas or nuclear sectors, a new survey claims. It suggests 28% of the workforce in the renewable energy industry in Scotland are female compared to 21% in the UK oil and gas sector […]

Major developers have more than halved their spending in Scotland’s offshore wind industry. New figures reveal only £28.9 million was spent last year by offshore wind companies compared to £63.6 million in 2012. Trade body Scottish Renewables blamed the slump on the failure of planning authorities to approve wind farms and warned the sector could […]

The amount paid to switch off fossil fuel power stations such as coal and gas are “six times greater” than payments made to wind generators. That’s according to the head of trade group Scottish Renewables who is calling for greater transparency around these constraint payments. All types of electricity generation get incentives if they are […]