England may get turbines dwarfing Big Ben

ONSHORE wind turbines twice the height of Big Ben could be built in England if the de facto ban is lifted.

Rishi Sunak is under pressure to relax strict planning rules introduced in 2015, since when no major onshore wind projects have been developed in England.

The prime minister is seeking a compromise after Simon Clarke, the former levelling-up minister, introduced an amendment to ease onshore wind development. He faces a backlash from another group of MPS led by Sir John Hayes, the former energy minister, who yesterday said he had secured at least 25 backers, including David Davis, Sir Greg Knight and Craig Mackinlay.

If the ban were lifted, hundreds of new onshore wind turbines could be built across England to help reach the Government’s goal to decarbonise the electricity sector by 2035.

Supporters argue that onshore wind is the cheapest, quickest way to secure new sources of electricity amid the squeeze prompted by the Ukraine war.

Rob Norris, from industry body Renewableuk, said if the ban was lifted developers would be looking to build bigger turbines than before 2015 to help maximise output and cut down on the amount of construction needed.

But he added that the size and scale of new developments would depend on local consent.

He said: “Would local people be happier to have larger, taller turbines, but fewer of them – about half the number. That’s yet to be tested out.

“It would then be up to a local community to decide which of those options and probably some things in between that they thought was acceptable.” There are no restrictions in planning rules on the height of turbines.

In Scotland, which hosts the vast majority of the UK’S onshore wind projects because its planning rules are more relaxed, the average height of turbines is 102.4 metres from the tip of the blade to the ground, compared with 92.6 metres in England.

Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, recently celebrated the construction of the country’s largest turbine, which at 200 metres, is twice the height of Big Ben. The tallest wind turbine in England is 126.5 metres at a site in Essex. Bank Renewables, which developed the wind farm in South Lanarkshire, said it would be looking for sites in England if the ban were lifted.

But it said the height of turbines would depend on “what the particular landscape in which it would sit could accommodate”.

Dale Vince, the founder of energy company Ecotricity, said England was not well suited to the biggest turbines, which he argued are not needed to provide sufficient energy from onshore wind.