An extra 45% of renewable energy was generated in Scotland during 2011 compared with the year before, figures have shown.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said the Department of Energy and Climate Change statistics mean around 35% of Scotland's electricity needs came from renewables in 2011, assuming that gross consumption in 2011 is similar to 2010.

This surpasses the Scottish Government's target of 31% for 2011.

Mr Ewing said: "It's official: 2011 was a record breaker with enough green electricity being produced in Scotland to comfortably beat our interim target. And Scotland met almost 40% of the UK's renewables output in 2011, demonstrating just how much the rest of the UK needs our energy.

"We are seeing great progress towards our goal of generating the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's electricity needs from renewables by 2020."

The figures show that renewable electricity generation, wind energy generation and hydro generation were all at a record high in 2011.

Mr Ewing added: "Scotland is a genuine world leader in green energy and our targets reflect the scale of our natural resources, the strength of our energy capabilities and the value we place on creating new, sustainable industries."

Dr Sam Gardner, senior climate change policy officer at WWF Scotland, said: "It's great news that Scotland has smashed its 2011 renewable electricity target but it should come as no surprise. We have repeatedly met our renewable goals for previous years and are well on track to hit the 100% by 2020 target."

He added: "However, while attention has been focused on renewable electricity, we need to step up efforts on energy efficiency. With over 50% of our climate change emissions coming from heating buildings, more also needs to be done to support greater renewable heat technologies."

Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, said: "This is a fantastic achievement for our industry and for Scotland.

"When the interim target of 31% was set it was seen as ambitious but yet again the renewables sector in Scotland has grown further and faster than predicted, achieving 35%, and that’s why we are confident we can meet the 2020 target.

"These figures are further proof that this industry is a major part of our energy sector. As well as supporting 11,000 jobs in Scotland and helping attract massive investment, renewable energy is now delivering more than a third of the electricity consumed by Scottish households and businesses. "