Energy Statistics for Scotland - Q1 2025

Electricity Generation Emissions

In 2023, each kilowatt hour of electricity generated in Scotland added an estimated 20.7g of CO2e per kWh (Figure 4). Since 2017, grid intensity in Scotland has been below the 50 gCO2e/kWh ambition for 2020 outlined in the Climate Change Plan. 

Figure 4:

Source – Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics 2023 (published 10th June 2025)

The steady drop in greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt hour of electricity correlates with the shift towards low carbon electricity generation (Figure 5). In 2023, fossil fuels provided just 7.8% of Scotland’s electricity generation. Figure 5 shows the transformation in Scotland’s electricity generation since 2004 when low carbon sources provided half of the electricity generated in Scotland.

Figure 5:

Source – Electricity generation and supply in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, 2019 to 2023 (published 19th December 2024)