Renewable Energy Index

Highland takes the top spot with 40 refused applications for renewable energy sites. Despite having the highest number of refused applications, Highland still has over 7,000 operational sites, which produced over 7.2 million MWh of renewable energy in 2021.

In second place is Strathclyde with 29 refused applications in total. Strathclyde is located on the west coast of Scotland and is home to one of the best universities in Scotland. Strathclyde is now made up of 12 local authorities, including Glasgow City Council, and North and South Lanarkshire.

Moving over to the east coast of Scotland we have the Scottish region of Grampian completing our top three with 26 refused applications. Grampian is located on the east coast of the Highlands area and is a popular place for hiking. Grampian is made up of Aberdeenshire, the City of Aberdeen, and Moray.

File takes the top spot with over 1,500 operational sites per 10,00 households. Fife has over 7,000 operational sites which produced 719,000 MWh of renewable energy. Not only is Fife an environmentally friendly city, but it’s also known as the home of golf, famed for St. Andrews which is where the sport is believed to be created.

In second place is Stirling with 1,363 operational sites per 10,000 households. In total, Sitrling has just under 6,000 operational sites, which have generated 675,000 MWh of renewable energy in 2021.

Mid Devon completes our top three 1,361 operational sites per 10,000 households, just 16 fewer than second place. Mid Devon has just over 4,500 operational sites in total. These sites have generated almost 260,000 MWh of renewable energy.

In first place is Inverclyde with an increase of almost 300% in renewable energy generation. In 2020, the Scottish local authority produced under 14,000 MWh, which rose to nearly 55,000 in 2021. Inverclyde’s sources of renewable energy are split between photovoltaics and onshore wind. Inverclyde’s huge growth in renewable energy was down to an increase in onshore wind, which rose from 11,000 MWh to almost 53,000 MWh.

With a 68% increase in renewable energy generation, Sandwell takes second place. In 2020, Sandwell’s source of renewable energy came from photovoltaic. However, in 2021 Sandwell started generating energy from municipal solid waste, which accounted for the 68% increase in renewable energy generation.

Manchester completes our top three with an increase in renewable energy generation of 54%. Like Sandwell, it was a new source of renewable energy which caused the spike in production. In 2021, Manchester started generating renewable energy from anaerobic digestion, to add to the energy they were already producing from plant biomass and photovoltaics.

Canada’s generating stations can produce 268 MWh of renewable energy per 100,000 people, which gives it the top spot. Canada’s total capacity is 103,000 MWh. Canada is one of the leading countries for renewable energy. In 2019, Canada’s main energy source was hydropower, which made up almost 60% of all electricity generated. Fossil fuels made up only 20% of this total.

Germany takes second place with 166 MWh of installed capacity. Almost 50% of electricity generated in Germany came from renewable sources. Despite this promising total, Germany is aiming to generate 80% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

Italy completes our top three with an installed renewable energy capacity of just under 100 MWh per 100,000 people. Over 20% of Italy’s annual energy demand came from renewable sources. Italy was also one of 14 countries to meet its 2020 target to generate at least 17% of its annual energy consumption from renewable sources.