Energy supplied from windfarms statistics: EIR release

Information requested

Part 1:

A) For each year from 2021, how much energy has been supplied overseas (anywhere outside of the UK) from wind farms stationed in Scotland?

B) What has been the income generated for Scotland from overseas energy supply from wind farms?

Part 2:

A) For each year from 2021, how much energy has been supplied to the UK from wind farms stationed in Scotland?

B) What has been the income generated for Scotland from UK energy supply from wind farms?
 

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Part 1:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. Electricity exports data is only available for overall exports and does not break down by different generation technologies. Therefore, we are unable to provide the wind technology export information requested. Furthermore, all electricity transfer from Scotland is between UK nations (England and Northern Ireland). Electricity exports data is published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and can be found in table 5.6 on the following web page Energy Trends: UK electricity - GOV.UK

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about energy supplied oversees from Scottish based wind farms, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

Part 2:

A: Information on wind generation in Scotland is published on a quarterly basis by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in energy trends table 6.1. The last information available at the time of writing is from 19th December 2024 and can be found on the following web page Energy Trends: UK renewables - GOV.UK

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. For ease, I have provided the most recent (as of 19th December 2024) annual Scottish electricity generation from wind technology figures for 2021-2023 and quarterly Scottish electricity generation from wind technology figures for the first three quarters of 2024 in the following table.

SCOTLAND	2021	2022	2023	2024 Q1	2024 Q2	2024 Q3
Generation (onshore and offshore wind; GWh)	18,846	26,174	25,118	8,892	6,150	5,637

B: While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested on income generated for Scotland from UK energy supply from wind farms. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4) (a) of the EIRs.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not hold any data, estimates or other information which breaks down the gross value added (overall economic income generated) or compensation of employment (employee income) below the level of the overall electricity generation, distribution and supply industry. However, there are turnover estimates published by the Office for National Statistics broken down by wind technology as part of the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy survey which can be accessed from the following web page Low carbon and renewable energy economy estimates - Office for National Statistics

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.