Published 10 October 2026. Figures are for 2025, checked against their sources on 10 October 2026, and do not change. A new edition follows when DESNZ publishes its 2026 figures.
Six things said about Scotland’s renewable electricity, each set against official figures. Every number links to its source.
1
The claim“Scotland generates more renewable electricity than it uses.”
Over a year, yes: Scotland sent 18.5 TWh more to England than it took back in 2025. Hour by hour, no. In 1,730 half-hours of 2025 (9.9%) Scotland could not cover its own demand and was a net importer from England.
On 13 October 2025 the wind dropped. The 166 wind farm units Elexon meters in Scotland averaged 112 MW, and never more than 305 MW, against 14.8 GW of Scottish wind capacity. Torness and Peterhead supplied 2,030 MW on average, and Scotland was still a net importer from England in 26 of 48 half-hours, at up to 1,060 MW.
The reply to expectScotland is a net exporter: 18.5 TWh to England in 2025.
The answer to itThe yearly surplus is made on windy days. On calm days Scotland relies on a nuclear station due to close in 2030, a gas station, and power from England.
SourcesDESNZ generation and supply 2025 · NESO demand and flow data 2025 · Elexon metered output (B1610)
2
The claim“Scotland’s wind fleet is a national asset.”
Scottish offshore wind farms ran at 23.5% of their capacity in 2025. English offshore farms ran at 41.3%.
The gap is not the wind. Scottish offshore farms were paid to switch off 6,111 GWh in 2025. Add that to the 8,870 GWh they generated and they would have run at about 40%, close to England’s. Seagreen, the largest, was paid £31m to switch off 64% of what it could have generated (2,855 of 4,442 GWh).
The reply to expectCurtailment is a grid problem. The grid is reserved to Westminster and run by NESO and Ofgem.
The answer to itThen the farms were approved faster than the grid could take their output. Scottish Ministers approved them (claim 3).
SourcesDESNZ load factors 2025 · Elexon metered output (B1610) · Elexon settlement bid data (method below)
3
The claim“Constraint payments are Westminster’s grid problem.”
In 2025, £362m was paid to Scottish wind farms to switch off: 95% of all such payments to wind farms in Britain.
Scottish Ministers decide whether onshore power stations over 50 MW, and offshore wind farms in Scottish waters, are built. The most expensive single day of 2025 was 28 June 2025: £7m paid to Scottish farms not to generate 117 GWh.
The reply to expectTransmission is reserved. Scotland cannot build the lines.
The answer to itApproving the farms is devolved. Ministers chose how much generation to approve, and the switch-off bill measures how far it ran ahead of the lines.
SourcesEnergy Consents Unit · section 36 offshore consents · Elexon settlement bid data (method below)
4
The claim“Scotland’s energy props up the rest of the UK.”
In 2025 Scottish wind farms received £391m in Contracts for Difference top-ups and £362m to switch off: £753m.
Both are charged to suppliers across Great Britain for every unit of electricity they sell. Scotland uses 8.7% of Britain’s electricity, so about £688m (91%) was paid by bill-payers in England and Wales. Not counted: the Renewables Obligation, the older scheme most Scottish onshore farms are paid under, so the true figure is higher.
The reply to expectScottish generators pay the highest grid charges in Europe.
The answer to itThose charges reflect the cost of carrying Scottish power hundreds of miles south to where it is used. They follow from where the farms were built.
SourcesLCCC CfD payments · Elexon settlement bid data (method below) · DESNZ consumption by nation
5
The claim“Scotland’s electricity supply is secure.”
Torness, Scotland’s last nuclear station, is due to close in 2030. That leaves Peterhead (gas, 1,180 MW) as Scotland’s only large nuclear or fossil-fuelled power station.
The Scottish Government’s stated position: “We oppose the building of new nuclear stations using current technologies.” On 13 October 2025 Torness and Peterhead were both running and Scotland still needed power from England.
The reply to expectScotland is part of a single British grid. Drawing power from England on a calm day is normal.
The answer to itThen Scotland’s supply after 2030 depends on gas stations in England, and the claim of energy self-sufficiency falls.
SourcesEDF, December 2024 · SSE Thermal · Scottish Government nuclear policy · NESO demand and flow data 2025
6
The claim“Scotland is on track for its 2030 targets.”
Onshore wind stood at 10.5 GW at the end of 2025, against a 20 GW target for 2030. At the 2022–25 rate of building (488 MW a year) it reaches about 12.9 GW by 2030.
The reply to expectDelivery depends on UK auctions and UK grid investment.
The answer to itScottish Ministers set these targets. The one written into law, a 75% cut in emissions by 2030, was repealed in 2024 rather than met.
SourcesDESNZ installed capacity · Scottish Government, Onshore Wind Policy Statement · Scottish Government, Offshore Wind Policy Statement · Scottish Government, Hydrogen Action Plan · Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2024, section 2
Lyon, R. (2026). Scotland’s energy claims, against the record. The Subsidy Clock, 10 October 2026. https://subsidyclock.co.uk/papers/scotland-2026