UK Government New Incentives for Wind Farms

The UK Government has presented new Wind Farm Planning Guidance which will enable local opposition to reject proposed wind farms. However, the Government still considers that it can meet its national energy targets by offering greater incentives to local people in the form of subsidies. The package of measures will see a five-fold rise in the benefits paid by wind farm developers to communities agreeing to host wind farms.

The subsidies could mean the locals hosting a medium-sized wind farm getting £100k a year off of their combined fuel bills. Alternatively, the money could be spent on energy efficiencies in the hosting community, or perhaps even other non-fuel-related initiatives. It will be up to the local community to decide how to spend the money. The government said the measures would ensure local communities had a greater stake in the planning process and expect the energy industry to improve its community benefit packages by the end of the year.

The subsidy increase will be from £1,000 per megawatt (MW) of installed capacity per year to £5,000 per MW per year, payable annually for the lifetime of the wind farm. UK Energy Secretary Edward Davey said: “It is important that onshore wind is developed in a way that is truly sustainable – economically, environmentally and socially – and today’s announcement will ensure that communities see the windfall from hosting developments near to them, not just the wind farm”.

The announcement was made, intentionally or otherwise, on World Environment Day.  The UK Government has long-term legally binding targets for CO2 emission reduction and therefore any reduction in the number of wind farms being established has to be avoided. If there were to be a major fall in the number of wind farms being built it would present a problem for the government’s long-term legally binding targets on cutting CO2 emissions. Any increased reliance on offshore wind farms would not solve the problem because it would lead to a rise in bills as offshore wind costs more than onshore or nuclear. Other European countries have largely avoided mass wind farm protests because they ensured that locals benefited.
Take Denmark for example Community ownership meant that every Danish village wanted its own turbine. It is this blueprint that the Government would like to offer: The UK Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said

“We want to give local communities a greater say on planning, to give greater weight to the protection of landscape, heritage and local amenity.”

Wind turbine 008 300x1801 UK Government New Incentives for Wind Farms

In 2008, about 70% of applications were approved, but approvals were only 35% in 2012. In 2011, onshore wind farms generated 3% of the UK’s electricity supply, generating enough power for the equivalent of 2.5 million homes. Over 4,000 turbines are in operation across the country, with almost 6,000 under or awaiting construction or in the planning system.