News

Decade of blocked onshore wind farms cost £900 million in economic output

Clean electricity which could be used by 1.6m homes and the creation of 370 new jobs per year[1] was missed because of England’s de facto ban on onshore wind farms, according to our analysis.

The controversial policy, which was introduced in 2014 by the previous Conservative Government, allowed a single local objection to block wind farm development in England between 2014 and 2024. The decision led to the immediate rejection or withdrawal of 54^[2] planning applications for onshore wind in England during that time.

Our analysis estimates that around 2.3GW of onshore wind power could have been generated during the decade the policy was in place.

The Labour Government announced it was lifting the de facto ban in July 2024 and has now set itself the target of achieving 27-29GW of onshore wind power by 2030 across the UK.

However, the impact of the policy extends beyond renewable energy generation. According to our calculations^[3], the restrictions have cost £900 million in economic output^[4] while local communities who could have benefitted from the investment missed out on up to £11.5 million per annum in Community Benefit Funds^[5].

While England faced these restrictions, other UK nations progressed with their onshore wind farm development. Scotland approved projects totalling 8.1GW capacity, while Northern Ireland and Wales totalled 0.7GW and 0.5GW respectively^[6].

Nicola Riley, Senior Director, Net Zero Infrastructure said: 

"The de facto onshore wind ban has left the Government lagging behind with its renewable energy generation pipeline. The latest policy change is a positive step forward as we are already seeing a shift in mindset at local political level and amongst communities. But policy change isn’t everything.

“Despite the de facto ban not being in place in Wales and Northern Ireland, only a small amount of onshore wind developments have been approved over the last decade. More needs to be done to overcome issues affecting onshore wind projects, such as transport and grid connection capacity.

"Lifting the de facto ban is only the first step and it is good to see positive changes to the connection regime as part of the broader Clean Power Plan 2030. Equally supportive local policy is needed and it is essential for Government, local authorities, industry leaders and community stakeholders to collaborate, which will result in a much more streamlined and proportionate decision-making process.

“This collaboration will create a more positive environment for applications to be made and projects delivered – producing renewable energy, jobs, community benefit funds and economic stimulus.

“Transforming ambition into action requires a concerted effort and commitment from all parties involved."

15 April 2025

Notes:

Our analysis is estimated based on the onshore wind projects granted between 2010-2014.

During that period, 1.15GW of onshore wind projects were granted planning permission and became operational.

Extrapolating this rate of deployment over the decade of the de facto ban, around 2.3GW of onshore wind could have been foregone as a result of the ban.

This would have produced the same electricity as used by c.1.6 million homes annually and supported 370 full-time equivalent jobs per annum. This is estimated to have cost £900 million in economic output.

[1] Using onshore windfarm industry proxies, these developments could have supported approximately 9,180 person years of employment. Assuming that the average windfarm operates across a 25-year operational lifetime, these windfarms together could therefore have supported on average c.370 jobs per annum. It is anticipated that the number of jobs supported would vary across the lifetime of the projects, with higher levels of employment during construction phases and lower during operational phases, averaging at c.370 jobs per annum over a 25-year period.  This impact cannot be specifically assigned to England or the UK given the potential for wind turbine manufacturing capacity to be held overseas.
[2] Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (2024) ‘Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract’ Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract
[3] Based on applying the rate of windfarms granted planning approval and are now operational (or still have planning approval) between 2010-2014 in England (1.15 GW) to the period of the de facto ban. It is estimated that 2.3GW of onshore wind could have been foregone as a result of the de facto ban. Based on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2022) Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD)
[4] GVA is not concentrated in England or the UK given wind turbines are anticipated to be manufactured overseas. This is based on an assumed split of roles over the operational lifetimes relating to the pre-development, construction, operational and decommissioning phases. GVA estimates are based on an average of Experian (September 2024) Quarterly data for GVA per FTE worker for the Construction, Professional & Other Services and Utilities sectors (applied to the relevant phases of development of each project) in the United Kingdom across a five year period. GVA per FTE worker is applied to all roles based on UK Experian data in the absence of equivalent data for overseas GVA per FTE workers. 
[5] Renewable UK suggests using a standard level for community benefit funds across the UK of £5,000 per MW of capacity per annum. This is applied to the estimated 2.3 GW of windfarm developments that have not been approved due to the de facto ban. See: Renewable UK (2024) ‘Industry aligns with Government on onshore wind benefits for local communities’ [Online]. Available at: https://www.renewableuk.com/news-and-resources/press-releases/industry-aligns-with-government-on-onshore-wind-benefits-for-local-communities/
[6] Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (2024) ‘Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract’. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract#full-publication-update-history. Not all data for the MW per turbine is provided within the database, therefore the average MW per turbine for which data is available is assessed within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland separately. This is then extrapolated across the number of turbines that were approved between 2014 and 2024 in each nation.