Onshore Wind Energy

Mr Gideon Amos, the Member of Parliament for Taunton and Wellington, asked the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, what steps the government is taking to help increase levels of onshore wind energy production. In his response, the Secretary of State acknowledged the "disastrous, bill-raising ban on onshore wind in England" under the previous government, and stated that the current government had overturned this ban within the first 72 hours of taking office. He also mentioned that the government has set up an onshore wind taskforce to restore the pipeline of projects that were destroyed by the previous administration. The Secretary of State further noted that the recent renewables auction had secured almost 1 GW of onshore wind at prices that make it one of the lowest-cost power sources to build and operate. Mr Amos followed up by asking when the Secretary of State will bring forward proposals for community benefit for those living alongside wind and solar farms, in order to incentivize the permitting of such projects, including the Ham solar farm in his constituency. He also inquired whether this would include a minimum level of compensation for the affected communities. The Secretary of State expressed sympathy with Mr Amos' concerns and stated that the government is working on proposals for community benefit. He acknowledged that when communities host clean energy infrastructure, they should automatically receive benefits from it. The Secretary of State also indicated that the government is discussing the idea of minimum levels of support with the industry and will be bringing forward proposals on this matter soon.