Scotland lifts by a third renewable heat output in 2014

Scotland saw a record 36% rise in renewable heat output in 2014, meaning that an estimated 3.7%-3.8% of its non-electrical heat demand was met with renewable sources last year.

The figures come from a report by the Energy Saving Trust, published on Friday and used to measure progress towards the Scottish government's goal of 11% heat from renewables by 2020. It covers heat pump, biomass, waste and solar thermal systems. Scotland's combined capacity across these technologies at the end of 2014 was slightly more than 1 GW, an increase by 42% compared to 2013. The capacity of micro renewable heat generating systems grew by a third to 194 MW, coming from an estimated 9,670 operational installations at the end of 2014.

The amount of heat produced by renewable sources last year was up to about 3 GWh. At the same time, Scotland's non-electrical heat demand fell by 2% in 2013, the most recent year data is available for, to slightly more than 82,000 GWh.

Hailing the figures, Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing said that there was continuing uncertainty about the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which the UK government has not commitment to beyond March 2016 and that Scotland would continue to press for commitment to the long-term sustainability of the scheme.

The Scottish government's programmes supporting renewable heat include the Home Renewables Loan Scheme, Resource Efficiency Scotland and the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme.

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