Organised by the Westminster Transport and Energy Forum.
This conference will examine next steps for onshore wind in England.
Attendees will consider key immediate issues for policy, regulation and market growth in the context of the Onshore Wind Taskforce Strategy, the Clean Power 2030 target for UK onshore wind, and potential implications of the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 7 results.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss what will be needed if the Taskforce’s key actions are to be met – including how the CP30 objective of an uplift in capacity for England and Wales might be realised – and priorities for the new Onshore Wind Council in implementation, alongside regulators, funding institutions, and specialist government agencies.
Planned areas for discussion include implementation timelines and sequencing, looking at finance and contractual mechanisms, and regulatory steps needed to translate strategy into investable projects. We expect this to include anticipated implications of the CfD AR7 auction and recent changes to the regime for market certainty and prospects for repowering existing sites.
Further sessions will examine project pipeline requirements such as grid connection readiness, planning and consenting challenges, strategies for community engagement, and environmental requirements.
We expect delegates to assess strategic measures needed to sustain market growth and domestic capacity, including the potential role of public investment vehicles – such as Great British Energy and the National Wealth Fund in leveraging private capital – reform to the Clean Industry Bonus ahead of CfD AR8, and implications of the Industrial Strategy and Clean Energy Jobs Plan for supply chain, skills and regional clusters. Practical steps and best practice approaches to support innovation, workforce development, and broad-based industry resilience, will also be considered.