Renewable heat generation increases by 36 per cent in Scotland

Renewable heat generation increased by 36 per cent in Scotland last year, according to new official figures.

The figures, released by the Energy Saving Trust, estimate Scotland had over 1 gigawatt of renewable heat capacity in operation in 2014 – making up around 3.8 per cent of total non-electrical heat demand.

The Scottish Government’s Heat Policy Statement aims to remove almost all carbon from the heat system by 2050.

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The capacity of micro renewable heat generating systems installed in Scotland grew by a third in 2014 to around 0.19GW, with over 9,600 micro systems estimated to be operational.

Scottish Renewables said the figures show Scotland is moving “in the right direction, albeit slowly”, while calling for strong commitments from both the Scottish and UK governments.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said programmes such as the Home Renewables Loan Scheme, Resource Efficiency Scotland and the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme were evidence the Government was working towards decarbonising the heat system.

He said: “We are committed in helping support households and business across become more energy efficient and use more low carbon and renewable heat sources.

“There is however continuing uncertainty about the Renewable Heat Incentive, which the UK Government have not commitment to beyond March 2016. We will continue to press for commitment to the long term sustainability of the RHI beyond next year to provide confidence for funders and stimulate investment in renewable heat technologies.”

Joss Blamire, senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said: “More than half of the energy consumed in Scotland is in the form of heat, so it's vital that we introduce more renewable sources – like solar thermal, biomass and heat pumps – in order to cut carbon emissions and reduce consumer bills.

“These updated figures show we are moving in the right direction, albeit slowly. In particular it is encouraging that the number of small renewable heat installations has increased by a third, showing homes and small businesses are taking advantage of this technology.

“What the industry needs now, particularly if we are to hit our target of sourcing 11% of our heat demand from renewables by 2020, is a strong commitment from the Scottish and UK Governments to help increase the pace of development.

“With that in mind, the UK Government’s continued silence on commitment to the Renewable Heat Incentive, the scheme which supports renewable heat development, beyond 2016 is worrying. Reduction or removal of that scheme would see our chances of hitting that 2020 target fall to almost zero.”