UK Onshore Wind Industry Adds £906 Million Per Year To UK Economy

April 29th, 2015 by Joshua S Hill

The UK’s 8 GW onshore wind industry generated £906 million in revenue for the UK economy in 2014, according to a new report from the UK’s renewable energy trade body, RenewableUK.

The report, Onshore Wind: Economic Impacts in 2014, released today, highlights the massive “success story” that is the UK onshore wind industry. The world’s sixth biggest wind market, the UK’s total wind industry sits at 12 GW installed, and delivered almost 10% of the country’s electricity needs in 2014.

In fact, the UK’s onshore wind industry has increased substantially in only a few years, growing from adding £358 million to the country’s economy in 2012 to 2014’s £906 million — an increase of 65%.

“The British onshore wind energy industry is adding over £900 million a year to the national economy, so the benefits to the UK are clear to see,” said RenewableUK’s Chief Executive, Maria McCaffery.

“This report also shows that £7 of every £10 spent on onshore wind projects is invested here in the UK. Onshore wind powers local economies, bringing £199 million of investment into the local communities that host wind farms and creating jobs across the supply chain. The industry is helping to propel Britain to a brighter, cleaner and more secure future – onshore wind is already the lowest cost of all low carbon options and is set to become the least cost form of all electricity within the next five years.

“Despite these facts, onshore wind projects are under threat from misguided Tory and UKIP policies aimed at stifling their development, blatantly disregarding rational economic evidence and consistently high levels of public support.”

The report starts off by saying that “onshore wind is the cheapest means of delivering the UK’s low carbon objectives” — reason enough for the remarkable growth of the last two years to continue into the future. In fact, onshore wind is already cheaper than nuclear, and by 2020 is set to be even cheaper than new gas generation.

More than bringing in revenue to the UK economy, onshore wind is bringing it in on a long-term basis and to the right places.

The report found that 69% of the industry’s total spend on onshore wind remains in the UK, bringing in more than £2 million per megawatt over its lifetime. On top of that, 27% of the economic benefits created by onshore wind are being felt in the local area directly surrounding each project.

The full report is available at RenewableUK, and looks into the economic impact of onshore wind throughout 2014, as well as changes since 2011.









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