Why Scotland aims for 100% renewables – and more by Giles Parkinson

Scotland plans to generate enough renewable energy to account for 100 per cent of its electricity needs by 2020 – mostly through onshore and offshore wind farm developments, with some hydro and possibly just a little wave and solar.

According to Scotland's climate change and environment minister, Paul Wheelhouse, the country is well on its way, reaching 35 per cent in 2011 (ahead of its target of 31 per cent), and has another interim target of 50 per cent to be met by 2015.

But it won’t stop at 100 per cent – the country is so blessed with wind, waves and tides that could, in theory, generate some seven times its electricity needs. Whether it gets quite that far remains to be seen, but to make sure that energy does not go to waste, Scotland is hurriedly upgrading its interconnectors to the UK, across the North Sea and beyond to ensure it has a market for all those green electrons.

Wheelhouse says Scotland has a vision to become a global leader in clean energy, with expertise in offshore wind, but particularly in wave and tidal energy – where it wants to succeed where Denmark and Germany did before them with wind and solar.

“We can already demonstrate the benefits of going to a low-carbon economy,” he said at the World Climate Summit, held on the sidelines of the international climate change negotiations in Doha on Sunday. “It has been counter cyclical, and helped to maintain economic activity when other sectors have declined.”

He says Scotland estimates that the renewables will account for 10 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2015/16 and 5 per cent of its workforce by 2020. “We want to make Scotland a major target for international investment. We see billions of pounds in onshore wind and billions more in offshore.”

The irony is that Scotland remains the biggest oil and gas producer in the EU, with some 30-40 years of reserves, estimated to be worth $1.5 trillion – and it could become a centre, too, for carbon capture. But Wheelhouse says the transformation to a low-carbon economy is inevitable.

Wheelhouse granted an interview to RenewEconomy after his event. Here is a (lightly) edited transcript: