Onshore wind projects above 100MW are to be reintroduced into the UK’s nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIP) regime, meaning permitting approvals will be made at national level through a fast-tracked process, the UK government has announced.
The change will come into effect by spring 2025, nearly a decade after wind farms were removed from the regime, the government’s ministry for housing, communities and local government said.
Before the new Labour government was elected back in July, permitting rules required that new onshore wind farms in England could only be built in locations “where they have community support”. This amounted to a de-facto ban on onshore wind in England, as an objection from just one person was enough for local authorities to reject a project.
However, the Labour government removed national permitting standards that applied only to onshore wind in England shortly after taking office in July. It also set out plans to consult on whether to reintroduce 100MW projects back into the NSIP regime.
“Today’s announcement is the final part of truly lifting the onshore wind ban in England and further underlines the new government’s determination to unlock its potential,” RenewableUK's head of policy, James Robottom said in reaction to the news. “It not only emphasises the critical role that onshore wind must play in reaching our clean power targets but also strikes a balance between smaller onshore wind projects decided locally and central decision-making for larger nationally significant projects."
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