Miliband: Lifting onshore wind ban a Labour priority

One of Labour’s first acts if it wins the next election will be lifting the de facto ban on onshore wind, Ed Miliband has pledged as he branded the planning system a “disaster” for renewable energy delivery.

In a keynote speech at RenewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind 2023 conference in London on Thursday (15 June), the shadow secretary state for climate change and net zero said decarbonising the electricity system by 2030 is the “North Star” guiding an incoming Labour government’s decision-making.

Scrapping the current government’s planning curbs on onshore wind, which critics say effectively bans the technology, would be one of the “early acts” of an incoming Labour government, he said.

Labour’s goal to increase the government’s 2030 offshore wind deployment target from 50GW to 60GW would require wide-ranging reforms, Miliband said: “Certainly carrying on as we are, it is not going to happen with the system as it currently stands.

“The planning system is a disaster and has got to change,” he said, adding that this would include “sweeping away the endless duplication that plagues your efforts.”

Reform would extend to reducing “unacceptable” grid connection delays, he said: “The government has a responsibility to put its shoulder to the wheel.

“We won’t let problems of the grid carry on as they are and stop us delivering. The time for excuses on the grid is over and the time for action is long overdue and all the major players know that.”

He added: “Clean power and net zero will be national issues. No arm of government should be excused from this responsibility. No more being pushed from pillar to post and regulators not understanding this is a central part of delivering for the country.

“You won’t just have my backing but the backing of the prime minister and Chancellor if there is a Labour government.”

Quizzed by RenewableUK’s chief executive Dan McGrail about cost pressures for new offshore wind projects in the upcoming Contracts for Difference auctions, Miliband said the sector had been a “victim of its own success” after delivering progressively lower prices in previous rounds.

“We can’t just think we’re going to keep driving down the price further and further without some impact,” the former Labour leader said, adding his driving motivation is the “need to get stuff built”.

Responding to Miliband’s comments, McGrail said: “We welcome Labour’s commitments to set ambitious targets for offshore wind and to remove longstanding barriers so that we can step up the pace at which we build new projects. New offshore wind developments do not only increase Britain’s energy security – they also drive down energy bills due to their low cost.”