Energy Statistics for Scotland - Q3 2022

Energy Statistics for Scotland – Q3 2022 Figures

December 2022

Key Points

Scotland’s electricity consumption increased in 2021, up 0.1% on 2020. However, gas consumption dropped slightly, down 3.3% on 2020.

Renewable electricity generation in quarter 3 2022 is 55.3% higher than the same quarter in 2021. Over the first nine months of 2022, generation was up 34.7% compared to the same period in 2021. This is mainly due to increased wind and rain and increased renewable infrastructure compared to 2021. 

Renewable electricity capacity has increased over the past year to 13.6 GW in September 2022, up 1.4 GW since September 2021. 

Energy productivity has increased in 2021 to 5.4% above the 2015 benchmark for the energy productivity target. This is an increase of 8.7 percentage points compared to 2020 and is likely due to the lifting of COVID restrictions in 2021.  

The renewable electricity target is no longer an official target as the target year of 2020 has been reported on. However, we are continuing to monitor progress of the target. Final figures for 2021 show that the equivalent of 85.2% of all electricity used in Scotland (total generation minus net exports) came from renewable sources. This is a 13.2% decrease compared to 2020, which is due to milder weather in 2021 negatively impacting renewable electricity generation.

57.0% of all electricity generated in 2021 in Scotland was from renewable sources and 87.8% was from low carbon sources.  Both have decreased since 2020. This is due to milder weather in 2021 compared to 2020. However, they remain significantly higher than England and Wales (36.2% renewables and 48.7% low carbon).