Prospects for onshore wind power projects have been very changeable over the past year. The government’s commitment to onshore wind was scaled back in the Energy Security Strategy in April, in effect banning development of new projects in England. This was followed by a move in September’s mini-Budget to accelerate planning reforms making it easier for priority projects to get approval – announced ahead of further developments on onshore wind in the autumn Budget weeks later. Since then, a consultation has been launched on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework for onshore wind developments, which has the potential to open the door to new projects, though there are still unanswered questions around how the reforms would work in practice.

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