Scotland is on course to beat energy target

SCOTLAND is set to exceed its renewable energy target for 2011, Enterprise Minister Jim Mather was due to say today.

He was to tell an energy conference at Murrayfield Stadium that the total amount of renewable electricity schemes already operating or with planning permission was enough to take Scotland past the target of generating 31 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2011.

Mr Mather was set to say: "Scotland has won the energy lottery. Our renewable resources have been estimated at more than 60GW, ten times Scotland's peak electricity consumption, and we are still just scratching at the surface of what we can achieve in areas like marine renewables or biomass.

"That is why this Government has built its energy policy around mining this rich potential and will not make the potentially costly, harmful and damaging mistake of considering new nuclear power generation for Scotland."