Can onshore wind green light solve England’s electricity problem?

Lifting an ‘absurd’ de-facto ban on land-based turbines was one of Labour’s first energy announcements.

Within days of winning the 2024 General Election, Sir Keir Starmer’s new cabinet has scrapped restrictions on the construction of on-shore wind farms. 

The de-facto ban, described by critics as ‘absurd’, was introduced ago under the Conservative government. The decision to remove restrictions has been broadly welcomed by local authority leaders who stand to gain significantly from new partnerships made possible by updated guidance.

This game-changing decision, made within days of taking office, is a crucial step in the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030,’ said Christopher Hammond, Chief Executive of local leadership network UK100. ‘This move will empower our local authority members to play a pivotal role in the clean energy revolution. It enables local leaders to deliver on their ambitions for local energy security and accelerate the decarbonisation of the grid, working with their communities to build cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous places.

Nine years ago, pressure from Tory MPs, concerned about the damage to rural constituencies, and their hopes of retaining power in those areas, led to de-facto ban being introduced without needing to pass specific regulations. Two footnotes in the National Planning Policy Framework relating to housebuilding essentially made it impossible to start onshore wind projects. In September 2023 Michael Gove, then communications secretary, announced the Conservative’s intentions to remove the restrictions, but this never happened.

‘The lifting of the de-facto ban on onshore windfarm developments in England, and the desire to bring these under the NSIP regime, is a hugely welcome sign of the new government’s aim to massively accelerate the country’s transition to renewable energy. It has been estimated that this could boost the economy by £45billion and create around 27,000 jobs,’ said Mitchell Pollington, Director (Historic Environment) at Lanpro.

‘Since 2015, there has been an effective moratorium on the construction of new onshore windfarms, due to the introduction of footnotes to the NPPF, which required proof that there would be no local opposition of any type to such schemes – which, of course, there always will be at some level. Prior to this, I was proud to work on the heritage and archaeological elements of numerous wind farm applications throughout the noughties – in both England and Scotland – working with passionate environmental consultants and developers,’ he continued. ‘Archaeological assessment not only helps mitigate any impacts from wind farm developments, but also provides an opportunity for communities to gain a greater understanding of their surrounding historic landscape.’

According to research by Friends of the Earth and the University of Exeter, it could be possible to produce 13 times more clean energy than England needs by committing just 3% of total land area to onshore wind and solar. This could power every home twice over. Having already committed decarbonising the UK’s entire electricity grid by 2030 in its election manifesto, Labour is faced with a monumental uphill task, with the target unlikely to be met without significantly expanding renewable sources of energy, and the removing unnecessary blockages preventing schemes getting approval.

‘Overturning the de facto ban on onshore wind in England signals a bright new dawn for wind energy, putting the dark days of hostility towards development behind us,’ said Sarah Merrick, Founder and CEO of Ripple Energy, which develops community owned renewable projects, including a number of Scottish wind farms. ‘Onshore wind is pivotal to fighting climate change and central to the UK’s energy transition. It’s clear people up and down the country have driven this shift, and it’s crucial they’re actively involved in and can directly benefit from the new wind farms that will result from it.’

Labour’s fast decision reflects the urgency of the situation. Currently, the UK produces around 41% of its annual electricity requirement through renewables, including wind, biomass, solar, and hydro. This is up from 2% in 1991, giving an idea as to how slowly progress has been made, albeit clean energy has only been considered a key election issue for around 15 or 20 years. 

Approval of facilities is only one obstacle, though. Environment Journal has been closely following the mounting renewable energy crisis. By May last year, more than 1,000 projects were on hold because of delays connecting to the National Grid. 40% were likely to pause for a year or more, while in some areas issues were expected to prevail for much longer – in June last year developments in Dorset were reporting being given connection dates in the 2030s. More recently, the union Prospect’s workforce survey revealed huge concerns within the energy industry, with 82% reporting staffing levels were too low, skill shortages too high, and morale was low.  

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Image: Thomas Richter