Wind farms could return to a hill near you: Rural landowners fear the push for green power in response to the Ukraine crisis will see planning rules eased
- Boris Johnson has ordered ministers to double the installation rate of new wind power in the UK as part of a push for renewables
- A Whitehall source said the scale of ambition – which will be set out in a new energy security strategy next week – is too big to be met by offshore wind alone
- Applications to install onshore wind farms in England have fallen by 96% since the rules were tightened in 2015 in response to opposition from Tory MPs and rural campaigners
Ministers are set to relax planning rules for onshore wind farms, despite warnings it will trigger a rural backlash.
Boris Johnson has ordered ministers to double the rate at which new wind power is being installed in the UK as part of a push towards renewables in response to the Ukraine crisis.
A Whitehall source said the scale of ambition – which will be set out in a new energy security strategy next week – is too big to be met by offshore wind alone.
“We’re going to need more onshore wind,” the source said.
Ministers are set to relax planning rules for onshore wind farms, despite warnings it will trigger a rural backlash. (file image)
Boris Johnson has ordered ministers to double the rate at which new wind power is being installed in the UK as part of a push towards renewables in response to the Ukraine crisis. (Above, the PM visits the Scottish Power Carland Cross wind farm in Newquay, Cornwall, in June 2021)
“It is clearly the cheapest renewable energy available and it is also the fastest to install.
“We’ve basically had a moratorium on onshore wind for the last seven years. But a lot of things have changed and it’s no longer sustainable.
“If we are to diversify away from Russian oil and gas and rapidly produce more green power in the UK, we need to look at all options, and that includes ending the effective moratorium on onshore wind.”
Applications to install onshore wind farms in England have fallen by 96% since the rules were tightened in 2015 in response to opposition from Tory MPs and rural campaigners.
Next week’s strategy will include a review of the strict planning rules that make it nearly impossible to get approval for land sites.
A government source said the move was “the biggest change” in the new strategy.
But the plan is likely to prove highly controversial.
Former energy minister Sir John Hayes, who imposed the 2015 restrictions, last night urged ministers not to relax the rules or risk upsetting ‘very large numbers of voters’.
He told the Daily Mail: “There really is very little to say about onshore wind farms.
“They cause enormous damage to the character of the countryside and the landscape, there are real questions about their impact on wildlife and even human health, they reduce housing prices and, above all, transmission costs to obtain energy from often remote areas where needed means they are very inefficient.
The energy security strategy has not yet been approved by ministers and could still slip until the end of this month.
Other elements will include:
- issue at least six licenses to exploit new gas and oil fields in the North Sea;
- A commitment to review the science around fracking to establish whether it is possible to extract shale gas without risking earthquakes;
- Approval in principle for a third new nuclear power station at Anglesey;
- Extend the life of the Sizewell B nuclear power station by up to 20 years, as well as shorter extensions for existing coal-fired power stations;
- Give the green light to the development of large “solar farms” on agricultural land.
Shell has relaunched plans to open a major new gas field in the North Sea as ministers scramble to reduce reliance on foreign energy. It comes as the government has promised to bolster the North Sea following the invasion of Ukraine. (Above are the aftermath of an explosion in Lviv, western Ukraine, on Friday)
The Prime Minister hinted at the new wind power surge this week during a trip to the Gulf.
Mr Johnson said moving away from Russian oil and gas would mean a ‘massive leap forward on renewables’ as well as ‘more nuclear and more efficient use of our own hydrocarbons’.
Trade body RenewableUK has called on ministers to double the amount of onshore wind power, equivalent to installing 11,000 more wind turbines.
Its chief Dan McGrail said: ‘Under the current system, unlike other planning apps, onshore wind projects in England can be rejected if just one person objects – this needs to change if we are serious about ensuring our energy independence and reach net zero as soon as possible.
