Renewables Onshore wind
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change in the Having been held back artificially for the past five years, the cheapest form of new power in the UK – onshore wind – is set to make a comeback, writes EIC analyst Sharanya Kumaramurthy
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nshore wind is a mature and proven technology, playing a vital part in the UK’s energy mix. Surging renewable energy demand during the past decade, and the sector’s subsequent growth, has created a favourable space for onshore wind’s development. Currently, the UK has around 13.6GW of installed onshore wind. At the end of 2018, onshore wind generated the largest capacity of renewable energy, amounting to 30%, and its generation rose by 6.6% in 2019 to 32.2TWh.
scheme in 2015 caused installation rates to plummet. With no way of entering power generation auctions, no subsidy support, and a hostile planning environment, there was no clear route to market for developers. In 2017, developers built record amounts of onshore wind power as they raced to complete their projects in time to qualify for government support – 343 projects added more than 2.6GW of capacity combined. In 2018, the number of projects fell to 91 totalling 651MW, dropping to 623MW across 23 projects in 2019.
to bid for subsidy support. Buoyed by the news in March, an increasingly optimistic industry now looks set for a boost in activity in its existing portfolio. A significant amount of new capacity is expected to come online as early as 2025, allowing the backlog of consented shovel-ready projects to progress. EICDataStream project tracking database currently shows that 64 projects (5MW or more capacity) have secured consent and are yet to commence construction. Reports say that more than 4GW of onshore wind could bid at the next CfD auction in 2021.
Powering ahead Investment choked by policy Despite the need and capability for the market to be pushed forward at full speed, the government’s lack of financial support in recent years has stifled UK onshore wind. The exclusion of onshore wind from the Contracts for Difference (CfD) subsidy
This year sees onshore wind back on the agenda. With an unprecedented rise in climate change activism and the government under pressure to deliver on its legally binding promise to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, onshore wind has been reinstated in the CfD regime – allowing it
Reforms needed While the announcement supports the technology, permitting bottlenecks must be addressed if the sector’s full potential is to be unlocked. To speed up the approval process and make investments happen, there must be reforms to the current complex and
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