PUBLIC support for further renewable energy developments across Scotland is overwhelmingly positive, according to a recent poll.

Research gathered by Fred Olsen Renewables, one of the UK’s longest standing renewable energy developers, showed there is a high level of support by Scottish people to accelerate progress on wind power to meet national clean energy targets.

The opinion poll indicated that support for onshore windfarms overwhelmingly outnumbered the opposition to them by 77% to 7%, while support for onshore windfarms in local areas is supported by 76% to 9%.

Research also revealed that two-thirds of people believe it is important that Scotland meets its targets to be net zero by 2045.

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Support for reducing electricity bills was outlined as the main priority by Scottish people for community benefit funding arising out of new renewables developments.

Megan Amundson, head of onshore wind and consenting at Scottish Renewables, said she is not surprised to see Scottish support for green energy industries to be so high.

She said: “Not only is onshore wind the cheapest form of renewable energy, this polling shows that more than two thirds of people across the UK want onshore wind farms to help deliver our clean energy future.

“Scotland’s onshore wind sector is already worth more than £3.4 billion to the Scottish economy and is supporting more than 12,000 jobs so we are not surprised to see the polling show that an overwhelming majority of people support the continued deployment of clean power technologies like wind and solar.

“To have such significant support from the Scottish public is a real boost for Scotland’s renewable energy industry as we move closer to a clean energy system that will enhance our energy security and deliver significant social and environmental benefits to communities across the county.”

Commissioned by Diffley Partnership, the research collected the views of 1012 people across the UK during late July, as well as an additional 523 in Scotland, days after the general election.

Fred Olsen Renewables is one of the longest-standing renewable energy developers in Scotland, with its first developments dating back to the mid-1990s, and operates more than 250 wind turbines across the UK. 

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Finley Becks-Phelps, UK development director at Fred Olsen Renewables, welcomed the news that renewable energy sources are widely welcomed in Scotland.

He said: “This research is massively significant – it shows Nimbyism in retreat across Scotland as far as clean power developments are concerned. People support wind power developments, and are hugely supportive even when proposed in their local area.

“We all have to play a part in decarbonising our electricity production, and we welcome the First Minister’s restatement of his ambitions for renewable technologies, set out in the recent Programme for Government.

“We’re proud of the role that Fred Olsen Renewables plays in meeting the drive to renewables in Scotland, not least the £465m economic impact generated by all our operations. Not just towards helping meet the country’s climate change targets and energy security, but economically, contributing hundreds of millions of pounds to national output and creating hundreds of jobs.”