On 28 August the UK hit a ‘historic milestone’ of 30 GW of wind generation capacity. The opening of SSE Renewables’ Viking wind farm on the Shetland Islands north of Scotland boosted the country’s capacity by 443 MW, which took the total past the 30GW threshold.
Total operational capacity of combined onshore and offshore wind in the UK now stands at 30 299 MW, as tracked by RenewableUK’s Energy Pulse, the industry’s market intelligence service. This is enough to meet the annual power needs of more than 26 million homes and cut carbon emissions by more than 35 million tonnes a year.
Renewables provided a record 46.4% of the UK’s electricity in 2023, according to statistics published by the government in July, with wind remaining the biggest source of clean power. Combined onshore and offshore wind power generated a record 28.1% of the UK’ total electricity production in 2023, while accounting for more than 60% of all electricity generated from renewable sources.
The UK’s first commercial onshore wind farm, Delabole in Cornwall, went operational in 1991, and the first offshore wind project off the coast of Blyth in the north east of England began generating in 2000. Initially, wind deployment climbed slowly to 1 GW in 2005 and grew to 5 GW in 2010, before expanding rapidly to 10 GW in 2013 and 15 GW in early 2017. Capacity has subsequently doubled in just seven years to reach the 30 GW milestone.
Viking wind farm has been in development for around 15 years, at a cost of approximately £1.2bn in private investment. Consisting of 103 turbines, it will harness Shetland’s exceptionally strong wind resource and will be able to deliver renewable energy to the grid via a 260 km high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cable. Viking will be the UK’s most productive onshore wind farm in terms of annual electricity output, capable of generating around 1.8 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity annually.
Commenting on the milestone, RenewableUK’s executive director of Policy & Engagement, Ana Musat, commented: “It took 26 years to install the first 15 GW of wind energy in the UK, so to double that to 30 GW in just seven years represents a tremendous success for the industry. As the latest … figures from the government show, wind is the backbone of our future energy system and a key driver of our transition away from expensive and volatile fossil fuels to become a clean energy superpower.
“Our research also shows doubling the UK’s onshore wind capacity by the end of the decade would boost the economy by £45 billion and create 27 000 jobs, whilst moving to an electricity system dominated by offshore wind by 2035 would leave consumers around £68 a year better off.”
