‘Delight’ as government expected to open door to new onshore wind farms

Campaigners, politicians and experts reacted with ‘delight’ after the government reportedly opened the door to new onshore wind energy projects, potentially ending four years of opposition.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) is expected to announce a new ‘contracts for difference’ auction allowing projects using cheap renewable energy sources such as onshore wind and solar to compete for contracts. Last year, in the absence of these contracts, just one new onshore wind farm was completed.

“Onshore wind has a key role to play in helping the UK meet our ‘net-zero’ emissions target at the lowest cost for consumers,” said organisation RenewableUK.

The Committee on Climate Change previously advised the government that UK needs to quadruple power from renewables to meet the net-zero target, set for 2050.

The new auction could see capacity delivered at similar prices to offshore wind, RenewableUK said, with contracts below the current wholesale price of electricity,

The popularity of onshore wind has grown in recent years, the organisation said, and the latest government polling shows 78% of the public support it, with just 6% opposed.

“The government is pressing ahead with action to meet our net-zero emissions target quickly and at lowest cost to consumers and businesses,” said RenewableUK chief executive Hugh McNeal.

“Backing cheap renewables is a clear example of the practical action to tackle climate change that the public is demanding, and this will speed up the transition to a net-zero economy. As one of the UK’s cheapest power sources, new onshore wind projects will be a huge boost for jobs and investment in local economies across the UK.”

Onshore wind already powers the equivalent of over 8m homes per year and the industry supports more than 13,000 UK jobs. New projects could bring billions of pounds of new infrastructure investment, creating new jobs.

“The big significance of today's announcement is that it signals from government that onshore wind is ON again. They agree that without more onshore wind we cannot hit net zero at lowest cost,” said Maf Smith, director of Lumen Energy & Environment, on Twitter.

“That boost of confidence is important in signalling to the market that UK government is no longer seeking to hold back onshore wind via different regulatory or legislative routes. That will also reduce cost of capital and make onshore even cheaper.”

Gloucester MP and the prime minister’s trade envoy Richard Graham wrote: “Delighted the PM & government has heard our case for onshore wind & solar to be part of green energy auctions (where supported by local democracy). This shows leadership in year of UK hosting Climate Change Summit.”

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