8 Jul 2024
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced an immediate end to the de facto ban on onshore wind development in England in order to accelerate planning decisions.
The move, which took effect on 8 July, was announced in her first major speech since taking office and commits to doubling the capacity of onshore wind generation in Britain by 2030 and boost energy independence.
There is currently 15GW of installed onshore wind capacity in the UK, with over half being in Scotland. The Climate Change Committee has previously advised government that the UK needs to install 35GW of onshore wind by 2035 in order to help reach net zero.
This is an overturn to rules brought in by the Conservatives in 2015 which effectively meant that a very small number of objections could block new onshore wind projects. These policy tests no longer apply.
The revision to the planning policy places onshore wind “on the same footing as other energy development in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)” according to the government. Onshore wind applications will now be treated in the same way as other energy development.