RenewableUK calls for onshore wind target of 30GW by 2030

The government should set a new target to double onshore wind capacity to 30GW by 2030, RenewableUK has urged.

In a new report, the trade body set out detailed milestones for deployment of the different renewable technologies the UK will require to meet its new target to cut emissions to 78 per cent of 1990 levels by 2035.

It also recommended new targets of at least 5GW of green hydrogen production capacity, a doubling of the government’s ambitions for floating offshore wind deployment to 2GW and a new goal of 1GW of marine energy – all by 2030.

The government currently has a target to deploy 40GW of offshore wind capacity by the end of the current decade but has only recently allowed onshore windfarms back into the Contract for Difference (CfD) auction process.

Government planning policies also give local councils, which are often concerned about the impact of windfarms on landscapes, the ability to veto such projects.

However, RenewableUK urged the government, which is due to host this year’s COP climate change summit in Glasgow, to “lead by example” and encourage other countries to establish targets for onshore wind development by setting its own.

Setting a short-term 30GW target, which the report says is in line with the Climate Change Committee’s ambitions for the onshore wind deployment, could help establish a supply chain development strategy for the sector and support more than 31,000 jobs across the country.

Unlocking sites for onshore wind farms in next year’s CfD allocation round could play a “critical” part in the UK’s green economic recovery from Covid-19 and aid the government’s levelling-up ambitions.

Alongside the UK-wide 30GW goal, the report encouraged the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales to set complementary 2030 targets for onshore wind development.

According to RenewableUK statistics, there is currently 13.8GW of onshore wind generation installed across the UK.

The report also recommended that the government’s upcoming hydrogen strategy set a goal of deploying least 5GW of electrolysers by 2030 to produce green hydrogen, and 10GW by 2035.

It said the pace of development in the sector means it is “already time to upgrade” the government’s 2030 5GW target for all hydrogen production, including blue hydrogen produced by reforming methane and capturing the emissions, which was outlined in last year’s 10-year green industrial revolution strategy. It said measures to expand hydrogen production should be accompanied by measures to stimulate demand for the fuel.

The report said the government’s proposed target to double the UK’s floating offshore wind ambition to 2GW by 2030 would accelerate the pace of cost reduction in the sector.

And setting a target of 1GW of marine energy, including tidal stream and wave technologies, could demonstrate the government’s intention to make marine energy a cost-effective new avenue for decarbonisation and give the UK the ability to reap potential benefits from the worldwide growth of such technologies.

The report’s author, RenewableUK’s head of public affairs, Nathan Bennett, said: “The UK has one of the strongest records on decarbonisation in the world. But to get to net zero emissions as fast as possible and ensure we’re maximising jobs and investment, the government needs to set out a detailed roadmap with specific milestones for the key renewable technologies which will get us there – starting with targets for 2030.

“We must ensure there are no gaps in our own ambitions if we’re to set the agenda for the rest of the world. Over-arching commitments to decarbonise by 2035 and 2050 are a great starting point, but there is so much to be gained by fleshing out comprehensive plans for renewable development which will underpin this.

“Ministers have already told us they want to see 40 GWs of offshore wind built by the end of this decade – now they need to show countries around the world we’re as committed to onshore wind, floating wind, renewable hydrogen and marine energy as we’d like them to be.”