Renewable Heat in Scotland
A report produced by the Energy Saving Trust on behalf of Scottish Government shows Scotland is on track to meet its target for 11 per cent of heat to come from renewables by 2020.
In 2009, we commissioned the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) Scotland to produce a renewable heat database. The SDC found that we were achieving approximately 1.4% of our target. The Energy Saving Trust have been updating this database and their report shows an increase to 2.8% representing good progress since the initial assessment.
The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 requires Scottish Ministers to produce a plan for the use of renewable sources and to report regularly on progress. A Renewable Heat Action Plan was produced in November 2009 and updated in 2010. It has been refreshed again in 2011 with new actions and details on how we will continue to make progress towards our target.
District Heating Loan Fund
The District Heating Loan Fund offered loans to support the development of district heating networks in Scotland this financial year (2011/12), this pilot scheme was available to provide loans for both low carbon and renewable technologies in order to overcome a range of infrastructural issues and costs of developing these projects. The fund is now closed to new applications. Details of successful projects have been published. We will announce details of the next round to the scheme early 2012.
A Study Into The Recovery of Heat from Power Generation in Scotland
On 5 October 2011 Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing, announced publication of an independent study into the recovery of heat from power generation in Scotland. The study examines the technical and financial prospects for recovery of heat from four sites used for large scale fossil fuel power generation in Scotland and then explores policies that could help make the recovery of heat a more practical option. Promoting recovery of heat from large scale power stations through building on the results of this study is highlighted as a key action in the 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland.