Hopes to lift UK onshore wind ban rise after Business Secretary comments

Grant Shapps, UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, has made comments in UK media in support of onshore wind where there is local support for it, which is seen as a sign of a U-turn on the matter by prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Currently, there is a de facto ban on new onshore wind turbines in England that Sunak previously pledged not to relax. Former Tory minister Simon Clarke, however, is pushing for allowing new turbines where communities want them through an amendment to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill. Ex-prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are reported to be supporting the change.

Shapps’ comments were welcomed by industry group RenewableUK. Its executive director of policy Ana Musat pointed out that onshore wind is one of the cheapest sources of new power and one of the fastest to install, at a time the UK needs to increase its energy security.

“We’re calling for planning legislation to be amended as a matter of urgency to lift the de facto ban on onshore wind in England. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill offers an ideal opportunity to boost the UK economy by supplying households and businesses with low-cost and low-carbon electricity, enabling savings on bills to be reinvested into the economy,” Musat said on Monday.

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