New government figures show that 54pc of Scotland's electricity use last year came from renewable energy sources. The same figures also demonstrated that the country is gearing up for a new record year in 2018 for renewable generation, with an anticipated 19pc generation increase for the first three quarters against 2017.

Scotland is a leading player in UK renewables and provided a quarter of the UK's total green energy generation figure for 2016. The country has now produced its own energy strategy, which features an energy investment fund with £20 million of funding and a carbon innovation fund with £60 million of funding.

A government spokesman said that the new figures showed that Scotland was well on track to enjoy a record year of green energy generation and that the government would continue to support the sector in order to encourage further growth.

A New Energy Strategy for Scotland

The energy strategy for Scotland defines the path of direction to 2030 and onwards. It focuses on innovation and community-owned energy generation projects to a degree far greater than in England. Scotland's low-carbon economy is providing an increasing number of jobs, vital economic growth and energy supply for the country overall as it moves away from fossil fuels.

Scottish Renewables' CEO, Claire Mack, said that the country's renewable energy industry was progressing in exactly the way it was meant to, creating reliable sources of green energy, skilled new jobs and opportunities for private investment. She said that the figures showed how Scotland's clean electricity sector was going from strength to strength. She added that the new energy strategy would demonstrate the importance of maintaining renewable energy at the heart of the country's economic policies in the future.