The UK was the first major economy to legislate to achieve net zero and work is already underway to ensure the UK achieves this by 2050 and thereby eliminate our country’s contribution to climate change. The Government is working to decarbonise the UK's electricity by 2035, and renewable technology is an important part of that strategy. This includes the Government’s commitment to delivering 50GW of offshore wind by 2030, alongside the expansion of other renewable technologies.

Onshore Wind

Today there are more than 1,500 operational onshore wind farms across Great Britain, generating over 12 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity for the national electric system. In 2020 onshore wind contributed 11% of the UK’s electricity needs, with a total 34.7 terawatt hours (TWh) generated – more than enough to power 18.5 million UK homes for an entire year.

Onshore wind farms produce less energy than their offshore counterparts (called their ‘capacity factor’) because onshore planning often limits the turbines' ‘tip heights’, which doesn’t apply to offshore turbines. An average onshore wind turbine produces around 2.5 to 3 megawatts (MW), in comparison to the offshore average of 3.6 MW.

The Government has now streamlined planning rules, meaning local areas have a greater say in how onshore wind projects should be considered, ultimately resulting in electricity bill savings and increased national energy security. The measures include broadening the ways that suitable locations can be identified, including by communities and speeding up the process of allocating sites by giving alternatives to the local plan process. This will ensure the whole community has a say, not just a small number of objectors – paving the way for more onshore wind projects to come online where they have community support.

Communities backing local wind farms could also benefit from cheaper energy under proposals to incentivise more projects. The Government has consulted on proposals for improved benefits and rewards for communities backing onshore wind farms and will set out next steps shortly.