Less than a week after the election that returned Labour to power in the United Kingdom, the new government is lifting the measure that prevented the development of new onshore wind farms in the country. This is the first step towards London’s stated goal of doubling this wind energy by 2030.
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New British government wasted no time. Since 2015, building a new onshore wind farm in the UK has been considered an impossible mission, or almost. However, there was no moratorium as such, but a document that looked like one, regulating construction and imposing drastic conditions, applicable only to onshore wind turbines.
These projects could only be developed in areas defined by development plans, local planning orders or when the proposal had received community support. According to the new government, this was often interpreted as the impossibility of carrying out the project without absolute unanimity.
Doubling onshore wind energy by 2030
On Monday 8 July, the new British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves announced: “ Today we are ending the absurd ban on onshore wind power in England. “A measure that is part of the new Labor plan to reform regional planning and revive economic growth.
In a guidance document published on Monday, it thus commits to doubling onshore wind energy by 2030. We will consult to reintegrate onshore wind into the regime of infrastructure projects of national importance, which means that decisions (in this matter) will be taken at the national level and not at the local level ” said Rachel Reeves.
The United Kingdom, ” a global leader in clean energy » ?
To do this, he intends to put wind turbines on an equal footing with other energy projects. Nearly a third of the electricity produced “in the country last year” came from wind farms “, and the labor government account ” Double onshore wind, triple solar and quadruple offshore wind by 2030 “This could make the UK “ a global leader in clean energy “, commented Tara Irwin, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, to AFP.
While the entry into force of the bill is de facto immediate, the government will confirm its position at the official opening ceremony of the new Parliament. For the time being, this position has in any case been welcomed by the NGO Friends of the Earth in the United Kingdom.
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