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UK Government to Reignite Support for Onshore Wind

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The government will start offering support to onshore wind farms once again, having previously scrapped support for such projects four years ago.

Onshore wind farm schemes will now be able to apply for support in the same way that other renewable energy technologies do.

The government’s goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 is at the heart of the U-turn, with climate experts saying that such a feat would require the UK to triple its onshore wind-power generation by 2035.

The Prime Minister’s policy advisers outlined the plans to renew support for onshore wind farms to green campaigners on Monday morning, with an official announcement from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) expected later in the day.

Secretary of state for business and energy, Alok Sharma, is expected to give a statement saying that the ending of the country’s contribution to climate change “means making the most of every technology available, and that includes backing more onshore wind and solar calcprojects”.

He is also expected to say that the government will achieve this “in a way that works for everyone, listening to local communities and giving them an effective voice in decisions that affect them”.

Alethea Warrington, of the climate change charity Possible, said: “After years of campaigning, today we can finally celebrate the UK’s cheapest new energy source – onshore wind – being brought in from the cold.

“As our cheapest source of clean energy, onshore wind is hugely popular with people in the UK, who understand that we need to use all the tools in the box to tackle the climate crisis”.

Former prime minister David Cameron made the decision to block onshore wind farm projects from competing for subsidies back in 2016. The result was a sharp decline in the number of new onshore wind farms being built.

Last year, the rollout of new onshore wind power capacity fell to the lowest level seen since 2011. The news prompted the clean energy industry to warn that the UK would miss its climate goals unless it supported the building of new onshore wind farms.

Scottish Power has already slated plans for an expansion of onshore wind projects across Scotland over the last few months as it anticipated a U-turn from the government on its support for new onshore wind projects.

Harry Pererra
Harry Pererra

Harry turns on his experience in journalism and programming to write about the latest news in the world of tech and the environemtn. When he isn’t writing for usave he is working towards his Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and prefers dogs to cats.

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