Posted by: Rob Norris
RenewableUK is welcoming the Government's commitment in its Growth Plan to remove the block on onshore wind in England. The plan states that Ministers will "bring onshore wind planning policy in line with other infrastructure to allow it to be deployed more easily in England". Onshore wind is one of the UK's cheapest sources of new power - up to ten times cheaper than the wholesale cost of gas.
The Growth Plan also states that the Government will streamline the planning process for offshore wind projects, as it notes that the decision-making process can take 4 years.
The price of offshore wind has fallen by around 70% since 2015, making it the lowest cost large-scale power source available in the UK, and industry has long identified planning and grid issues as major obstacles to speedier development.
RenewableUK's CEO Dan McGrail said: "Removing the block on onshore wind in England means we can generate significantly more cheap electricity for hard-pressed billpayers in areas where projects have local support. Once projects have planning permission they can be up and running within a year, so this technology offers us a great opportunity to tackle the cost of energy crisis.
"Speeding up the planning process for offshore wind is vital too, as it will allow us to unlock an enormous amount of new capacity much faster and help us to meet the Government's target of quadrupling our offshore wind capacity by 2030. It will also help us to meet the Prime Minister's vision of the UK becoming a net energy exporter by 2040. At the moment it can take up to ten years to get a project over all the hurdles. We can't afford these glacial timescales any longer, especially as offshore wind has now reached a point where it's even cheaper to build than onshore wind.
"It's also vital that we speed up grid connections, as some offshore wind farms are being given connection dates which are 10 years into the future. Alongside the changes announced today, we're urging Ofgem and National Grid to accelerate grid reform, as one of the most important steps towards decarbonising our power system in the years ahead.
"Overall, the Government's Growth Plan could be a game-changer in speeding up the transition to low-cost renewable power. Companies plan to invest up to £175bn in UK wind energy this decade, boosting growth and energy security".
Notes:
- RenewableUK's members are building our future energy system, powered by clean electricity. We bring them together to deliver that future faster; a future which is better for industry, billpayers, and the environment. We support over 400 member companies to ensure increasing amounts of renewable electricity are deployed across the UK and to access export markets all over the world. Our members are business leaders, technology innovators, and expert thinkers from right across industry.
- Under the current planning system in England, introduced in 2015, all onshore wind projects are decided at local authority level - unlike other technologies where large projects (above 50MW) are decided by the Planning Inspectorate at national level.
Under current planning guidance, if one person objects to an onshore wind project it can be blocked. Local authorities are also supposed to draw up detailed plans identifying specific areas in which onshore wind projects could be located and any proposal outside those identified areas should be rejected. In practice only 12% of local authorities have done identified areas for renewables development, mainly due to a lack of resources. These restrictions in planning guidance do not apply to any other technology.
For further information, please contact:
Luke Clark, Director of Strategic Communications 07875 704
032 Luke.Clark@RenewableUK.com
Robert Norris, Head of Communications 07969 229 913 Robert.Norris@RenewableUK.com
