Climate Politics

UK Government to Relax Planning Rules for Onshore Wind

  • Britain to cut red tape for offshore wind, oil and gas
  • UK aims to eliminate rules to stimulate economic growth

A wind turbine on the Bradwell Wind Farm.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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The UK government will relax planning rules for onshore wind to allow projects to be deployed more easily, marking a significant policy shift.

Britain vowed to speed up the planning process for energy infrastructure including offshore wind farms and new oil and gas fields in Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget on Friday. Onshore wind was effectively banned in 2016, but developers were allowed to enter the government’s latest subsidy competition in a softening of policy.