A new report has revealed that the onshore wind pipeline is picking up pace, growing twice as fast in the past 12 months than in the previous.
RenewableUK’s latest EnergyPulse Onshore Wind Report shows that the pipeline of onshore wind projects across all stages of development, from pre-planning all the way to operational, has increased by 4.2GW since September 2023, from 38.5GW to 42.7GW. The previous 12-month period (September 2022-2023) saw less than half this amount of growth, with the pipeline increasing by 1.5GW.
This year has already seen a significant amount of new onshore wind come online, with 594MW of new capacity going live since the start of 2024. Scotland remains a significant hub for onshore wind, playing host to 75% of the UK’s total onshore wind pipeline and bringing 630MW of generation capacity online in the last 12 months.
RenewableUK’s head of policy, James Robottom, said: “As this report shows, the UK has a healthy pipeline of onshore wind projects which will enable us to boost Britain’s energy security and cut consumer bills by using one of our cheapest sources of new power. But to do this, we will have to deliver new projects faster.
“This is very much a collaborative endeavour. We will continue to build onshore wind farms in an environmentally sensitive way which takes account of the views of local communities and sets out the economic benefits which we can offer them”.
UK wind sector seeing major growth
This news comes as little surprise to those who have been keeping abreast of the wind energy sector’s progress in recent months.
The new Labour government’s decision to immediately lift the de facto ban on onshore wind projects in England after nearly a decade, combined with the formation of the Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce in July, means interest in the sector is reaching new heights.
March 2024 saw the onshore wind sector hit a new milestone as it surpassed 15GW of operational capacity. Last week, it was revealed that the newly operational Viking offshore wind farm allowed the UK to surpass 30GW of combined operational wind capacity.
However, some fear that the UK may miss its wind generation targets unless public and private investments increase further. On this, Robottom notes: “We need companies of every size to seize this opportunity and invest in developing an industry which is playing a key role in tackling climate change as well as helping billpayers hit by massive increases in the cost of fossil fuels.”
