TODAY (November 15) is calm, dull dry and cool and UK-wide power outputs as a percentage of our demand from wind, hydro, pumped storage and solar at around 9 o’clock this morning were 0.72 per cent, 1.53 per cent, 0.65 per cent and 0.77 per cent.
We do not meter solar in the in the UK, the above figure being the Sheffield University daily estimate.
Compounding the near total absence of power from the above sources we are exporting some 2.5GW of power to France and the Netherlands when, routinely, we import around 3.0GW so there must be some problems
with their supplies.
To keep our lights on the UK has restarted coal fired stations which are delivering 8.0GW (roughly four Longannets, some 18 per cent of our needs), and gas has been ramped up to give us 25.5GW, which is 57.6 per cent of our needs and just about all they can today give.
Given that we are progressively surrounding our coasts with huge offshore windfarms it is clear that they too are producing next to nothing.
Today’s not-untypical example will lead some to question 2020 and the Government target of 100 per cent renewables for Scotland.
Yet still we press on with the Beatrice wind farm, which an area the size of Cardiff, and the £1.3 billion high voltage DC interconnector from Spittal south of Thurso to Keith on the Moray Firth which today, among many annually, would have been lying idle.
DB Watson,
Saviskaill, Langdales Avenue, Cumbernauld.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel