Report claims onshore wind could deliver cheapest electricity by 2020

New research by the Onshore Wind Cost Reduction Taskforce, set up by RenewableUK, has suggested onshore wind can become one of the most cost effective energy sources by 2020. This will force down fuel bills for households throughout the UK.

The recommendations are in four categories:

1. Further innovation by industry.

2. Improvement to the grid connection system.

3. Ensuring the UK consenting system is functioning as it should.

4. Monitoring and sharing best practice within the industry.

The Taskforce report has taken new gas power stations as the expected baselines for cheapest new technology in 2020 with a predicted levelised cost of energy of £65-75 per megawatt hour. The research suggests without the changes recommended, onshore wind could struggle to get its costs below this level. It would however still be the cheapest source of low carbon electricity.

Chair of the taskforce Colin Morgan, business manager from DNV-GL Energy, said: “With this report we highlight that it is possible for onshore wind to be the cheapest new electricity capacity by 2020, and exactly how industry and government can work together to deliver this consumer benefit. We hope to be able to take these programmes forward over the next few months to enable onshore wind to grow its role providing low carbon power for millions of homes”.

Chief Executive of RenewableUK Maria McCaffery added: “This work definitively shows the value of continuing the role of onshore wind in the UK. It’s already the most cost effective way to generate low carbon power, and this report shows that within the next five years onshore wind can be the most cost effective of all forms of power generation, driving down all our fuel bills. We have already seen evidence of the falling cost of onshore wind in the most recent auctions for low carbon power. However, further cost reductions won’t happen if this technology is cut off at the knees by a premature withdrawal of support. We urge politicians to work with us and support onshore wind, to help the UK to cut fuel imports, rather than imposing arbitrary caps on this technology”.