ENDING onshore wind farm subsidies will save hundreds of millions of pounds, Amber Rudd, the Energy Secretary, has said, as she confirmed that 250 proposed projects were now “unlikely” to get built.

Ministers announced last week that a key subsidy scheme, the Renewables Obligation, would be shut down a year earlier than planned, although projects which already had planning permission and other conditions could still get built under a “grace period”.

The policy is a key part of the Conservatives’ manifesto pledge to end new onshore wind subsidies.

Ms Rudd told MPs the energy department estimated that about 7.1 gigawatts of the onshore wind capacity proposed across the UK “will not be eligible for the grace period and is therefore unlikely to go ahead”.

“That equates to about 250 projects, totalling about 2,500 turbines, that are unlikely to be built,” she said. “The onshore wind projects that are unlikely to go ahead could have cost hundreds of millions of pounds.” Most of the projects seeking planning permission were not expected to be built under the Renewables Obligation scheme anyway, and were hoping to secure subsidies through a new system of subsidy contracts.

Ms Rudd’s comments are the clearest indication yet that these new subsidy contracts will also be ended for onshore wind farms.

Asked by MPs to confirm as much, Ms Rudd said the Government would be “implementing the terms of our manifesto” in respect of the contracts.

Industry sources suggest Ms Rudd may be holding back from categorically ruling out subsidies through the new system due to concerns that doing so may fall foul of EU state aid rules.

Ms Rudd also pledged to continue to “consult colleagues in the Scottish government” on the proposed change.