The removal of the onshore wind ban has been a boon for the UK wind sector, but industry experts warned that obstacles remain that must be overcome before delivering a full onshore wind \u2018renaissance\u2019.<\/p>\n
This was the main conclusion to be drawn from a panel discussion held on the UK\u2019s onshore wind sector at this morning\u2019s Wind Power & Investment Summit, hosted by Solar Media in London. The discussion, held under the heading \u2018The Renaissance of UK Onshore Wind: Capitalising on the Policy U-Turn\u2019, came as the UK approaches one year since the removal of the de facto ban on onshore wind<\/a>, and the announcement of the government\u2019s plans to double the UK\u2019s installed onshore wind capacity by 2030.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment, it\u2019s fair to say that investors are very nervous as to what is happening [with REMA],\u201d said Sarah Smith, managing director at Wind 2, who suggested that uncertainty regarding the future of the UK\u2019s energy pricing system<\/a> could dissuade investment into the wind sector. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone through the last three months with almost, we hope, a 180 degree turn on how the zonal pricing might turn out.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that only takes us part of the way,\u201d Smith continued, pointing out that there are other financial questions the wind industry will need to answer. \u201cWe\u2019re really looking for some clarity and closing down some of the uncertainty that\u2019s currently in the industry. For some investors, that\u2019s stopping them in the north.\u201d<\/p>\n Joanna Ellis, chief commercial officer at Nadara and a member of the UK\u2019s Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce, added that repowering projects is a potential challenge, as operating projects come to the end of their lifespan. She went on to suggest that, for projects financed through merchant mechanisms, offtaker appetites are changing, which could affect how developers behave.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the other things, with my commercial hat on, is when you\u2019re looking for offtakers, and you\u2019re not going down the contract for difference (CfD) route, is [asking] what constitutes \u2018additionality\u2019?\u201d asked Ellis. \u201cIf we can only extend the life of an asset because we\u2019ve spent x money to replace [components], some of the larger corporates are coming around to the idea that that is additional.\u201d<\/p>\n Tackling the UK green skills shortage<\/p>\n However, Ellis suggested that this change in offtaker perspective is a \u201cpositive movement,\u201d and other panelists agreed that there are advances being made to overcome other issues in the wind industry, such as a skills gap, considering the lack of onshore wind development in England in recent years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got the onshore wind strategy coming out shortly, and while I can\u2019t pre-empt that, there will be things in that about resources, training and [acknowledgement] that we\u2019ve not seen this for ten years, so there might be a skills gap,\u201d explained Simeon Bee, head of planning and communities, onshore wind, at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).<\/p>\n \u201c[Modern projects] look very different to what they did ten years ago so there will be work to do there,\u201d Bee added. His comments follow those made by Michael Shanks MP, parliamentary under-secretary of state for energy, at the beginning of the Clean Power Summits yesterday, who said that UK workers would have be trained to fill the so-called green skills gap<\/a>, rather than relying on hiring skilled workers from overseas.<\/p>\n