The UK Government recently published new measures aimed at speeding up the approval process for onshore wind projects supported by local communities in England.

The measures include expanding the ways in which suitable sites can be identified, including by communities, and speeding up the site allocation process by offering alternatives to the local plan process. This, according to the Government, will ensure that the whole community has a voice, not just a small number of objectors, paving the way for more onshore wind projects to come on line where they have community support.

Following the unveiling of the measures, Secretary of State for Energy Secretary and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho said that "renewables are a crucial part of our energy transition. They accounted for just 7% of our electricity generation in 2010, and almost 48% in the first quarter of this year. The UK is already home to the world's four largest offshore wind farms, and we have invested and made available over £1 billion for Sizewell C - the first direct state backing of a nuclear project in over 30 years. Onshore wind also has a key role to play and these changes will help speed up the delivery of projects where local communities want them".

Measures are not enough

Responding to the changes announced by the Government on onshore wind policy, RenewableUK's Head of Onshore Wind James Robottom said that "the proposed changes don’t go far enough. We will still face a planning system stacked against onshore wind that treats it differently to every other energy source or infrastructure project. A lot will be open to interpretation and there are still hurdles to navigate which remain in place. There has been a slight softening at the edges but nothing more. As a result, we’re not going to see investment into new onshore wind at the scale needed to rapidly cut bills and boost energy security". 

Robottom explains that "while industry will work with Government to see how these changes might be able to support a limited number of new developments, this is a missed opportunity to reinvigorate onshore wind in England after eight years of lost progress".  

He concludes that it’s clear that a significant number of Conservative MPs support holding the Government to its promise to end the ban on onshore wind, and opposition parties are clear in their support for more significant planning reform. "We need to build on this emerging cross-party consensus to develop a planning system that is fit for purpose, which supports communities who choose to host clean cheap energy projects, as well as our industry’s ability to invest in them".