Location notice
Please note that this page contains information and links most relevant for people living in Scotland.
Updates
A new report has since been published in this series – please see the 2020 report for the most up to date information.
As a result, the figures in this publication are no longer applicable and should not be used. Historical reports remain available online to show changes to the methodology over the duration of the reporting series.
Much of the data used for the Renewable Heat in Scotland report is reviewed and updated on an annual basis, therefore improvements to the historical published figures will only be found in the latest report. These improvements may be due to access to new or improved datasets, changes to the methodology or corrections.
Background
The Scottish Government has set a target for 11% of non-electrical heat demand in Scotland to be met from renewable sources by 2020.
In order to help measure progress towards this target Energy Saving Trust maintains a database of renewable heat installations (referred to as the Renewable Heat Database or dataset throughout this report) on behalf of the Scottish Government. The database records installations known to be operating and those currently in various stages of development. It contains data on the capacity and yearly heat output of those installations and is updated annually.
The database has now been updated with new information on heat generated from renewable sources during the 2014 calendar year.
As well as tracking progress towards the Scottish Government’s renewable heat target this report also provides commentary on accreditations under the domestic and non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) schemes between December 2014 and August 2015, as an indicator of the growth in renewable heat into the next reporting year.
For any questions or comments relating to the Renewable Heat Database or accompanying analysis and report please contact RenewableReporting@est.org.uk.
Summary of key findings
We estimate that:
- in 2014 Scotland generated an estimated 3.7 – 3.8% of its non-electrical heat demand from renewable sources
- 1.022 GW of renewable heat capacity was operational in Scotland by the end of 2014 (up 42% from 2013), producing an estimated 3,031 GWh of useful renewable heat in the 2014 calendar year, an increase of 36% from 2013.
- the capacity of micro renewable heat generating systems installed in Scotland grew by a third in 2014 to 0.194 GW (194 MW) and the number of micro systems operational by the end of 2014 was estimated to be 9,670
- the Highland local authority area contributed 18% of the total heat output for 2014 and has the largest number of installations across all size categories
- by the end of December 2014 3,000 domestic RHI installations in Scotland were accredited; this number more than doubled by the end of August 2015 to 8,063
- under both the domestic and non-domestic RHI schemes, approximately 20% of all accredited installations are in Scotland. This is significantly above the proportion of installations to be expected on a pro rata basis when compared to the size of the population in Scotland as a portion of Great Britain as a whole