page_title: Wind power in the United Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Wind power in the United Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Positionskarte des Vereinigten Königreichs Quadratische Plattkarte, N-S-Streckung 170&#160;%. Geographische Begrenzung der Karte: N: 61.0° N S: 49.0° N W: 11.0° W O: 2.2° O English: Location map of the United Kingdom Equirectangular projection, N/S stretching 170&#160;%. Geographic limits of the map: N: 61.0° N S: 49.0° N W: 11.0° W E: 2.2° E
context_page_description: The United Kingdom is one of the best locations for wind power in the world and is considered to be the best in Europe. Wind power contributed 20% of UK electricity generation in 2019, making up 54% of electricity generation from renewable sources. Wind power in the UK is a popular low cost generation mode which is still dropping in price and delivers a rapidly growing percentage of the electricity of the United Kingdom.
  By the beginning of August 2020, wind power production consisted of 10,911 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of over 24.0 gigawatts: 13,649 megawatts of onshore capacity and 10,415 megawatts of offshore capacity.
  This placed the United Kingdom at this time as the world's sixth largest producer of wind power. As of 2012, polling of public opinion consistently shows strong support for wind power in the UK, with nearly three quarters of the population agreeing with its use, even for people living near onshore wind turbines. The UK Government has committed to 40GW of installed offshore capacity by 2030, bringing overall UK wind capacity to over 50GW. This is greater than the UK's electricity demand of between 30-40GW in 2019.
context_section_description: The United Kingdom is one of the best locations for wind power in the world and is considered to be the best in Europe. Wind power contributed 20% of UK electricity generation in 2019, making up 54% of electricity generation from renewable sources. Wind power in the UK is a popular low cost generation mode which is still dropping in price and delivers a rapidly growing percentage of the electricity of the United Kingdom.
  By the beginning of August 2020, wind power production consisted of 10,911 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of over 24.0 gigawatts: 13,649 megawatts of onshore capacity and 10,415 megawatts of offshore capacity.
  This placed the United Kingdom at this time as the world's sixth largest producer of wind power. As of 2012, polling of public opinion consistently shows strong support for wind power in the UK, with nearly three quarters of the population agreeing with its use, even for people living near onshore wind turbines. The UK Government has committed to 40GW of installed offshore capacity by 2030, bringing overall UK wind capacity to over 50GW. This is greater than the UK's electricity demand of between 30-40GW in 2019.
  Through the Renewables Obligation, British electricity suppliers are now required by law to provide a proportion of their sales from renewable sources such as wind power or pay a penalty fee. The supplier then receives a Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) for each MW·h of electricity they have purchased. Within the United Kingdom wind power is the largest source of renewable electricity and the second largest source of renewable energy after biomass.
  Historically, wind power has raised costs of electricity slightly. In 2015, it was estimated that the use of wind power in the UK had added £18 to the average yearly electricity bill. This was the additional cost to consumers of using wind to generate about 9.3% of the annual total (see table below) – about £2 for each 1%. Offshore wind power has been significantly more expensive than onshore, which raised costs.
  Offshore wind projects completed in 2012–14 had a levelised cost of electricity of £131/MWh compared to a wholesale price of £40–50/MWh. In 2016, wind power first surpassed coal in UK electricity generation, and in the first quarter of 2018 surpassed nuclear power generation for the first time. In 2016 it was predicted that onshore wind power would have the lowest levelised cost of electricity in the United Kingdom in 2020 when a carbon cost was applied to generating technologies. However, in 2019, a strike price was agreed during the latest CfD round for £39.65/MWh for Offshore wind projects which is lower than the expected UK wholesale electricity price even without carbon pricing, meaning that this will be the first "negative subsidy" wind farm operating in the UK. In 2017 the Financial Times reported that new offshore wind costs had fallen by nearly a third over four years, to an average of £97/MWh, meeting the government's £100/MWh target four years early. Later in 2017 two offshore wind farm bids were made at a cost of £57.50/MWh for construction by 2022–23. In the 2019 Contracts for Difference round, about 6GW of clean energy is to be added to the grid by 2025 at around £47/MWh at 2019 prices; the first round that prices were lower than current generation costs.
caption: Locations of wind farms in and around the United Kingdom and Ireland
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