Earlier this month Parliament held an event on Onshore Wind. New onshore wind installations fell by nearly 80% last year, this is the lowest level since 2011. Overall, there has been a 95% decrease in applications for new onshore wind capacity since June 2015. This is despite the fact that the Government’s most recent survey shows onshore wind energy has the support of 79% of the public.

The dramatic fall in installations and applications is because the Government has effectively introduced a ban on new onshore wind projects by preventing them from accessing a route to market and imposing unique planning barriers to their construction in England.

Onshore wind is one of the cheapest ways to generate renewable energy and costs are continuing to fall. Moreover, it is a well-established technology that is relatively straight forward to install. A Labour Government would take advantage of this by removing the barriers to onshore wind, creating 6,000 more turbines by 2030 and 60,000 jobs in the sector.