12/08/2022 | Offshore wind

Wind power reaches new milestone of 25 gigawatts, powering two-thirds of UK homes

12 August 2022 - RenewableUK press release


RenewableUK is highlighting a major clean energy milestone as the UK’s combined onshore and offshore wind capacity now stands at 25.5 gigawatts - enough to power 19 million households a year, which is two-thirds of all UK homes.


Wind now generates nearly a quarter of the UK’s annual electricity needs, and it is our cheapest source of new power. Capacity is growing fast - we reached 15GW in 2017, so we’ve increased our capacity by two-thirds in the last 5 years.


The Government has set the industry a target of 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 as a key part of its Energy Security Strategy, in response to rocketing international gas prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – almost a fivefold increase from 11.3GW now.


The Climate Change Committee recommends that the UK should more than double its onshore wind capacity from 14.2GW now to 29GW by the end of the decade.


RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail said:


“Wind is the cheapest source of new power for the UK, as last month’s record-breaking auction for the next round of renewable energy projects showed. So we need to get on with building bigger clean energy projects faster, to help ease the pain for consumers faced with exorbitant gas bills which many people will be unable to pay.


“Reaching 25 gigawatts of wind is a major milestone, and we can achieve much more with the right policies in place to meet the Government’s 2030 clean energy targets. Onshore wind projects can be up and running within twelve months of being consented, so we need a revised planning system to encourage new projects as soon as possible. The consenting process for offshore wind farms can take years, so it needs to be streamlined urgently. The need for action is acute due to the rocketing cost of gas - and at a time when the world is facing a climate emergency.


“Onshore and offshore wind enjoy very high levels of public support, and this should be given due weight not only in the planning process but also by politicians, including both contenders to become the next Prime Minister. This will enable us to create thousands of new jobs and grow our UK-based supply chain in the years ahead, providing goods and services for projects here as well as exporting our technology around the world”. 


The total pipeline of UK wind projects which are either operational, under construction, consented, in the planning system or at an early stage of development now extends to 129GW. (93.3GW offshore and 36GW onshore).


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Notes


RenewableUK’s members are building our future energy system, powered by clean electricity. We bring them together to deliver that future faster; a future which is better for industry, billpayers, and the environment. We support over 400 member companies to ensure increasing amounts of renewable electricity are deployed across the UK and to access export markets all over the world. Our members are business leaders, technology innovators, and expert thinkers from right across industry.


The projects which enabled the sector to reach this landmark are RWE’s Triton Knoll offshore wind farm (857MW) and three Scottish onshore wind farms owned by Greencoat Wind UK: Twentyshilling (37.8MW), Windy Rig (43.2MW) and Glen Kyllachy (48.5MW). The data is compiled by RenewableUK’s EnergyPulse team.


25,529.565 MW of operational wind energy capacity generates enough electricity to power 18,998,574 UK homes a year.


The UK has 28.1m households according to the Office for National Statistics.


Wind now generates 71.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity a year, which is 23% of the UK’s annual needs. Total UK electricity generation from all sources in 2021 was 308.7TWh according to DUKES published by BEIS.


More on the Climate Change Committee’s wind energy targets is available here.


More on wind being the cheapest source of new power is available here.


The UK’s first onshore wind farm (Delabole in Cornwall) began operating in 1991.


The UK’s first offshore wind farm (Blyth, Northumberland) began operating in 2000.


RenewableUK’s events programme is available here.


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