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Onshore An onshore thing


The onshore wind industry faces a number of challenges, from global crises like infl ation, the lingering effects of Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the huge increase in raw material prices – not to mention other issues that are unique to the sector. Nicholas Kenny speaks with James Robottom, head of onshore wind at RenewableUK, and Aaron Barr, global head of onshore wind energy at Wood Mackenzie, to learn more.


communities are in favour of it […] That is, I think, the key test of onshore wind – is it of benefit to communities locally? That has always been the principle for us, for quite some time now.” These words, spoken in November by the UK’s business and energy secretary, Grant Shapps, indicated quite the turnaround for the Conservative government’s party line on onshore wind. Rishi Sunak, the current prime minister, had vocally opposed new onshore wind development during his leadership campaign against Liz Truss in the summer of 2022, which he would go on to lose. Truss, during her infamously short tenure as the


“W


UK’s PM, looked set to overturn a de facto ban on onshore wind development that has been a part of Conservative policy since 2015, back in the Cameron years. After Sunak took her place in October 2022, he indicated that he would return to the status quo in this area and maintain the onshore wind ban. What a difference a month or two can make – as


both Truss and Sunak have learned. By late November 2022, Sunak was forced into this U-turn by growing


e already have quite a lot of onshore wind. There will be more, over time, particularly where


discontent among Tory backbenchers. Supporters of scrapping the onshore wind ban include leading Conservatives like Truss and former PM Boris Johnson, as well as the Labour party – Sunak’s main opposition.


A disunited kingdom However, even with this about-turn, the onshore wind industry still faces a great number of challenges in the UK, as it does throughout Europe and the US. Of course, notes James Robottom, head of onshore wind at RenewableUK, when looking at onshore wind in the UK, it’s important to highlight the key differences between Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.


In terms of planning and support for the onshore wind sector, Scotland is far ahead of its fellow UK nations. RenewableUK, the UK’s leading not-for-profit renewable energy trade association, has been pushing for a target of 30GW of onshore wind across the UK by 2030. About 12GW of this new capacity has been earmarked for Scotland, which would take its total capacity to just over 20GW. The Scottish government has offered its support for this target, which makes the challenges in this nation different from those posed elsewhere in the UK.


World Wind Technology / www.worldwind-technology.com


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chuyuss/Shutterstock.com


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