The UK’s Labour government has announced plans to launch an onshore wind taskforce, in a bid to double the UK's capacity to about 30GW by 2030.
The recently appointed energy secretary, Ed Miliband, announced the plans in parliament today (18 July), saying that the taskforce will work with project developers to "rebuild the pipeline" of onshore wind farms in England.
It follows the recent scrapping of the de-facto onshore wind ban that had been in place across England under the former Conservative government. Under previous permitting regulations, a single objection was enough for local authorities to reject the project – though the Conservative Party eased these restrictions somewhat near the end of its time in office. The Labour government removed the ban within days of being voted into power on 4 July.
Miliband said those who supported the ban undermined the country’s energy security and “set back the fight against the climate crisis”.
RenewableUK chief executive Dan McGrail, who will be a member of the taskforce, said the industry body is “ready to work closely with the government to achieve its target of doubling onshore wind capacity across the UK by 2030”.
McGrail said the announcement “demonstrates strong backing for onshore wind” from the government.
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