Delivery of new onshore wind projects will “drop sharply” this year following a record-breaking rate of new installations in 2017, a new report by Renewable UK has predicted.
According to the study, published today (31 August), a record 2.6GW of onshore wind came online in the UK last year, providing enough electricity for 1.8 million homes.
This equates to around a fifth of the UK’s total fleet of onshore windfarms and is double the previous annual record set in 2013.
The new capacity was overwhelmingly installed outside of England, with 1.7GW in Scotland, 356MW in Wales and 247MW in Northern Ireland.
The report says that last year’s record delivery was “largely driven” by the deadline to secure accreditation under the Renewables Obligation scheme, which expired in April last year.
The new windfarms represented an investment value of £7.69 billion, estimates the report.
However the future growth of the onshore wind industry and investment in new infrastructure is at risk unless there is a change of government policy on the sector, Renewable UK has warned.
It says: “The amount of new capacity installed in 2018 and 2019 is expected to drop sharply, and the pipeline of new projects post-2020 is uncertain.”
The government’s policy of blocking onshore wind from competing for contracts for difference means that the industry faces a steep drop off in new investment and new capacity coming online, according to the report.
And consumers will be denied the opportunity of accessing the low-cost electricity generated by onshore wind, driving up bills.
Emma Pinchbeck, executive director of Renewable UK, said: “By excluding onshore wind from the market, the government is putting at risk billions of pounds of new investment annually across the UK and making it more expensive to meet its own climate change targets.”
Paul Cooley, director of generation development at SSE, said: “There are still opportunities to develop efficient, appropriately sited projects – both new and repowered – to harness Scotland’s excellent wind resource.
“A supportive policy framework that addresses market and planning challenges is vital to enable onshore wind to continue delivering local and national benefits”.