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Onshore


updated by the end of April. When April came and went and nothing changed, the same group of MPs piled on the pressure.


The amendment was drawn up by Sir Alok Sharma, a Conservative MP and the former president of Cop26, and supported by a group of senior Tories. Unlike the Labour opposition, which has said it would remove all special planning requirements for onshore wind, the Tories have tried to appease those core anti-wind voters.


In 2015, then-Prime Minister David Cameron changed English planning laws, effectively banning onshore wind turbines.


Onshore wind is still considered special – the threshold for denying an application is much lower than it is for other technologies.”


The winds of change


From one perspective, the onshore wind ban and its repercussions may seem rather puzzling. Onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of energy available, and one of the quickest to deploy. As a low-carbon technology, it could play a leading role in England’s journey towards net zero. It could also heighten energy security and cut consumers’ energy bills during a cost-of-living crisis.


1.7GW 22


The additional wind energy capacity that would have been added in England between 2015–22 if annual build-out rates had matched the pre-ban average.


Institute for Public Policy Research


Of course, it is not without its detractors. David Cameron was trying to appeal to voters in rural Tory heartlands, many of whom viewed turbines as an eyesore. Onshore projects also tend to attract some pushback from conservationists, who worry about their effects on ecosystems. However, polling has consistently shown that the UK public are in favour of onshore wind. A 2022 poll from RenewableUK found that 76% support building renewable energy projects in their local area. In that same survey, only 16% of Tory voters said they thought the block on onshore wind should remain. Similarly, a 2021 government study found that 80% of people support onshore wind and only 4% oppose it. Some Conservative MPs, aware of which direction voter sentiment is tracking, have been seeking to revoke the ban since the outset. “There’s a perception that the opposition is greater than it actually is,” says Robottom. “Onshore wind is very popular and I don’t think I’ve spoken to anyone from a younger generation who doesn’t back it.” When Rishi Sunak became prime minister in October 2022, he indicated he would keep the ban in place. However, a rebellion from his own backbenchers – including former Prime Minister Liz Truss – two months later drove him to soften his stance. He set up a consultation to end the ban, promising that the planning framework would be


“I understand that some people would like […] for onshore wind to be treated like any other infrastructure,” said Sharma during a debate on the change to energy legislation on the 5 September. “I get that, but we also have to recognise that it has been a contentious issue in the past, and it is important that we take communities with us on this journey.”


The road ahead


Emden would not dispute that community focus is important. As he points out, people need to feel like projects are happening with their blessing and engagement, rather than off the back of a cursory consultation. “You need to let people know what’s happening and give them opportunities to say where they might want sites to be, so they have a say in the process but don’t disrupt it,” he notes. He thinks the new guidance might lead to more community energy projects, which don’t need such long pipelines of investment since they’re inherently local. That said, he thinks larger projects will still struggle to get off the ground. “The majority of the onshore wind we’re going to need will come from larger-scale wind farms and investors will probably still be cautious about the prospects,” he concludes. Robottom maintains that the current planning system isn’t fit for purpose. A better system, he thinks, would ensure developers didn’t have to jump through unnecessary hoops. “There are important things you need to do at the siting of a wind farm, but they have to be proportionate to the scale of development. A single turbine that’s going to help a community power their homes has to be different from a 50-turbine wind farm,” he says. By November 2023, two months after the rules were eased, England’s stagnant onshore wind market had failed to pick up pace. Not a single new application had been received, which the Guardian described as “a further sign that Rishi Sunak’s anti- green policy shift is driving investment abroad”. “We aren’t an island when it comes to renewable


energy,” points out Robottom. “There are other markets that exist – developers will go to Germany or Scotland, which are backing onshore wind. I’m hopeful things will change, but whether that will happen under the current administration, I’m not sure.” ●


World Wind Technology / www.worldwind-technology.com


360b/Shutterstock.com


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