Why are we delaying our affordable low-carbon future? 

As the UK looks to bolster its energy security in light of the extreme market volatility witnessed over the past year, it is vital that the government utilises all the tools at its disposal. Writing for Utility Week, Energy UK policy manager Aradhna Tandon argues that this must include support for onshore wind, continued support for land mounted solar farms, as well as addressing issues around grid connectivity.

The UK government has used COP27 to position itself as a world leader on combating climate change and championing low carbon energy, with the goal of turning the UK into a clean superpower.

As countries across Europe continue to focus on ensuring secure and affordable energy for the public, new commitments to accelerate the energy transition have come thick and fast.  It’s been reassuring to see governments pledging to speed up implementation toward a more secure, cheaper, and cleaner energy system.

As the new government outlines its policies and positions, the focus continues to lie with offshore wind and nuclear as a solution to increase domestic energy supply. However, the events of the past year have made it evident that the transition to clean energy will require us to utilise all the tools available to us – this means support for onshore wind, continued support for land mounted solar farms, and addressing issues around grid connectivity.

Earlier in the year, Liz Truss made a welcome, if surprising, commitment to lift the ban on onshore wind in England. Onshore wind is one of the quickest ways to bolster the UK’s renewable capacity, at a lower cost than its offshore alternative. Lifting the ban on onshore wind could reduce energy bills by a total of £16.3 billion. Recent studies have also shown that support for onshore wind is high, with polling by Opinium showing that 74% of British people support building more wind farms, including 72% of Conservative voters.

The benefits of onshore wind are recognised by supportive local communities who wish to host new onshore wind in their backyard and help create up to 27,000 skilled jobs, boosting the economy by £45 billion a year. This year has also seen wind power set new generation records, with windfarms generating more than 50% of total energy demand on certain days in October. Queue the inevitable disappointment that the new government has reversed one of the few positives from Liz Truss’ brief time in No 10.

While the current Prime Minister continues to evade questions around onshore wind, the Labour leadership has picked up on the public sentiment and has pledged to double the capacity of onshore windfarms. We hope the current government will consider going beyond consulting on community support for onshore wind.

Even as the government clarified that the ban on onshore isn’t going anywhere, the position on solar farms remains unclear. The former government was rumored to be considering banning farmers from building solar farms on their land without any substantial evidence of its impact on food production. The reality is that solar only covers about 0.1% of UK’s land. Compare these to quarries which take up three times that amount. Even expanding solar to achieve Net Zero targets is expected to result in just 0.3% of land being used. This is the time to remember that solar is now nine times cheaper than gas and could supply up to 17% of the UK’s annual energy needs by 2035.

Solar’s popularity with farmers and the public has made it hard to understand why the government might be targeting solar farms. With the rising cost of electricity, we have seen recent examples of community initiatives of taking over solar farms – with the most recent in Shropshire powering nearly 1,000 homes. With 55% of land being used for farming and pasture, restricting solar from being built in these areas could set us back from achieving our Net Zero and domestic energy security targets and jeopardising UK’s position as a world leader.

The UK desperately needs a stable policy environment to ensure investment in low carbon energy. Delays to policy documents such as the energy National Policy Statements which are essential to building critical infrastructure are adding to delays already being caused by constraints to obtain connections to electricity grid networks.

The UK’s planning system needs to reflect the UK’s increased international and domestic ambitions in climate mitigation and energy security to develop generation capacity.

The British public already understands that renewables are the future – we just need the government to listen, and deliver on an energy system that will provide the cheap, domestic, low-carbon energy that offers the only route out of the energy crisis.