Onshore windfarm applications hit 10-year high in England
Surge in proposals follows Labour’s lifting of de facto ban, with about 45 plans submitted in the year to March Plans for new onshore windfarms in England have reached their highest annual level in a decade, after the government overturned the Conservatives’ de facto ban in 2015. About 45 applications for new onshore windfarms were submitted in the year to March,according to a Guardian analysis…
Onshore windfarm applications in England have reached a ten-year high, following Labour's removal of a de facto ban on the development in 2015. According to a Guardian analysis of government data, about 45 new applications were submitted in the year to March. This surge in proposals follows the lifting of the ban, which had been in place despite the potential benefits of strengthening energy security, economic growth, and reducing energy bills.
Before the Labour government took office, the monthly average of onshore wind applications was about 9 megawatts, but it increased to approximately 36MW by the beginning of this year.
The onshore wind resurgence is even more significant when compared to the low point in 2023, when applications averaged just 1MW per month. At that time, Ukraine was building more onshore wind farms than England, even while under Russian occupation. Since the ban was lifted, the average onshore windfarm proposed in England has had only two turbines, delivering 8MW of renewable power capacity.
In contrast, Scotland's proposals feature an average of nine turbines, with 59MW of capacity. Only one windfarm with over 100MW capacity has been proposed in England since the ban's removal, while 18 such projects have been proposed in Scotland.
RenewableUK CEO Tara Singh lauded the return of onshore wind to England, highlighting its cost-effectiveness and quick construction times. She emphasized the potential benefits to local communities through community benefit funds and the UK's onshore wind supply chain could contribute £56bn to the economy by 2050.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
