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(Bloomberg) — Octopus Energy Group won local community support for new onshore wind farms that would be capable of powering more than 1.8 million homes as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to lift a ban on clean power technology.
British energy company Winder uses a platform that helps match areas where residents want wind farms and locations with the right conditions, such as high wind speeds and power grid capacity. The latest analysis found community support for at least 2.3 gigawatts of new onshore wind farms.
Zoisa North-Bond, chief executive officer of Octopus Energy Generation, said, “It’s possible to build more wind turbines where people want them, helping to end our dependence on fossil fuels, reducing energy bills and boosting economic growth.”
Local opposition is at the heart of a Conservative Party policy that has effectively banned the development of new onshore wind farms in England since 2015. Since then, British wind power development has been limited to Scotland and offshore locations, which require long cables. To reach population centers.
Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truce, overturned the onshore wind ban during her short premiership. She and her predecessor Boris Johnson joined efforts to amend legislation that would relax current restrictions on onshore wind to allow development that has the support of local populations.
Building an onshore wind farm is the fastest and cheapest way to add new electricity generation in Britain. Their expansion will be critical to meeting the UK’s net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050. And in a government auction earlier this year, onshore wind farms agreed to sell electricity at less than half the current wholesale price in Britain, offering relief. A country’s energy crisis that could last for years.
©2022 Bloomberg LP
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