The UK’s onshore wind industry has been urged to confront growing political opposition and deliver a “supercycle” of investment.
Scottish Renewables chief executive Claire Mack (pictured left) told delegates at the Onshore Wind Conference 2025 today that “twin external challenges of politics and PR” buffeting the sector have “become far more acute in recent months”.
“Traditional (political) parties are under siege and energy and net zero, which used to be a binding force, now just isn’t,” she told delegates in Edinburgh.
“We’re being played very much as the problem.”
Mack urged the onshore wind sector to show off the value the energy source has to offer, such as job creation and contributions to the wider UK economy.
Onshore wind is a “here and now” renewable technology that offers a “near-term, large-scale investment opportunity to support energy security and homegrown power to 2030”, she added.
It is a sector that is “already delivering and has obvious growth opportunities that we can make the most of”, Mack said.
The UK government’s head of mission control for clean power 2030 Chris Stark (pictured right) told the conference officials have been putting “building blocks” in place through connections reform and the decision to ditch zonal pricing that can enable the delivery of 27-29GW of UK onshore wind by the decade-end.
“We should think of this period ahead as a supercycle of investment for onshore wind,” he said. “The opportunity is before us for that.”
Stark said the first 15 months of the Labour government has been “relentless” in its pursuit of delivering the clean power 2030 target.
“There were many doubters about our commitment (to CP2030) but I hope we are showing that this is something different from your average government pledge,” he said.
The upcoming AR7 Contracts for Difference auction is going to be a “very high stakes moment” for the onshore wind sector and wider renewables industry, Stark added.
“I hope it’s going to be key to unlocking a much clearer story of how this story is all coming together.”