Britain will build wind power for communication base stations

To fully deliver, the new Government will need a massive overhaul of the UK's approach to planning and deployment, both of wind farms and the relevant grid infrastructure. They've made a great start by lifting the de facto ban on onshore wind in England on their first full working day in power.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Britain is launching its first ever onshore wind strategy, designed to boost renewable power capacity and increase jobs in the sector, the government said on Friday.

Britain generates just under a third of its electricity from wind turbines, concentrated on the Scottish coastline or in the Highlands. Now ministers want to go further and make offshore wind the backbone of the country's clean electricity system. To achieve this, the existing electricity grid, built for the fossil fuel era, will need updating.

Britain's energy needs could be met entirely by wind and solar, according to a policy brief published today by Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. Wind and solar can provide significantly more energy than the highest energy demand forecasts for 2050 and nearly ten times current electricity demand (299 TWh/year).

To his chagrin, this strip of coast beloved by nature enthusiasts has been earmarked for an array of new electricity infrastructure to help Britain's energy supply go green. Scottish Power wants to bring cables onshore from two vast new wind farms in the shallow waters of Doggerland, in the North Sea.

This argument is part of a broader debate playing out across the country. Wind farms around Britain's coastline are central to the Labour government's plans to achieve climate targets, including decarbonising the UK's electricity system by 2030, and increase energy self-sufficiency.