UK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ruth Byrne KC, Andrea Stauber and Erin Vandzura, King & Spalding International LLP
The aforementioned British Energy Security Strategy established the Offshore Wind Accel- eration Taskforce to focus on streamlining the consenting process for new offshore wind farms. This included planning reforms to cut the approval time for new offshore wind farms from four years to one. In September 2024, one of nine Contracts for Difference was awarded to the Hornsea 4 project in the UK government’s sixth renewable energy round. In May 2025, Danish energy company Ørsted announced that it would discontinue the project in its current form owing to increasing supply costs, higher interest rates and construc- tion risks. A spokesperson for the UK’s Depart- ment of Energy and Net Zero has said that the government will work with Ørsted to get the pro- ject back on track. In the 2023 Spring Budget, the former UK gov- ernment introduced a series of capital allowance measures that aim to benefit offshore wind pro- jects – for example, offering 100% capital allow- ances on plant and machinery investment until March 2026. Furthermore, in the 2024 Spring Budget, the former UK government pledged to allocate up to GBP390 million of the more than GBP1 billion Green Industries Growth Accelera- tor (GIGA) funding to support supply chains of offshore wind and electricity networks and an equal amount to supply chains of CCUS and hydrogen. In June 2024, the Crown Estate estab- lished a GBP50 million Supply Chain Accelera- tor fund, which offers businesses up to GBP1.5 million per eligible project to support the manu- facturing, fabrication and late-stage testing of offshore wind components. Turning to dry land, onshore wind farms gener- ated 35.1 TWh of electricity in 2023, amounting to 24.2% of overall renewable electricity and
12.3% of total electricity generated in the UK. Although the former UK government recognised that “onshore wind is an efficient, cheap and widely supported technology”, there were few concrete proposals or targets in its Powering Up Britain agenda. Following a public consultation between May and July 2023 seeking views on how to develop local partnerships for onshore wind in England, the former UK government recognised the cost benefits and efficiency of renewable energy, and provided assurances that it is an important part of the energy mix. To that end, it promised that communities will benefit from hosting onshore wind facilities. Additionally, the former UK government voiced its intention to work with the onshore wind industry to update the Community Benefits Protocol for England by Summer 2024 – however, this was never pub- lished. Proponents of onshore wind power point out that it is one of the cheapest forms of renew- able energy and necessary in order for the UK to meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050. However, the rapid deployment of onshore wind will require greater support from the UK govern- ment, including a clear policy and regulatory framework. Many, including the CEO of Scottish Power, warn that major reform of the planning process for big infrastructure projects is neces- sary to speed up the permitting process. It appears that, with the recent change in govern- ment, such greater support may now be forth- coming. Within the first 72 hours in power, the new UK government lifted what was essentially a de facto ban on onshore wind, by placing the approval and implementation of new onshore wind projects on an equal footing with other infrastructure projects. In July 2024, the new UK government also announced the launch of an Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce ‒ led by Ed
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