UK’s pipeline of onshore wind projects grows by 12% in last 12 months

The Onshore Wind EnergyPulse report, compiled by our in-house data experts, shows that although only 0.34GW has gone fully operational in the last 12 months, the amount of capacity under construction or consented in the UK has increased by 1.1GW to 6.8GW.

The vast majority of projects are located in Scotland, accounting for 78% of the total pipeline: 

If all projects in the pipeline were to be built, the UK could have 29.8GW of onshore wind capacity operational by the end of 2030, increasing to 34GW by the end of 2031.

RenewableUK’s CEO Dan McGrail said: “We can’t tackle the energy crisis without onshore wind - it’s one of our cheapest sources of new power and once projects have the go-ahead they can be up and running within a year.

“Despite the Government publishing its Energy Security Strategy in April, Ministers still haven’t set a target for onshore wind in the UK and they’ve only tentatively opened up the conversation about removing the block on onshore wind in England.

“We need to see a commitment of at least 30GW of onshore wind by 2030 and local communities across the UK being given the chance to benefit from generation in their area where it has local support”.

The report, which is free to RenewableUK members, was released to coincide with RenewableUK’s Onshore Wind Conference 2022.