Scout Moor II near Manchester could be operational in 2030. It would be the first new onshore wind farm in the country in over a decade. However the Labour Government intends to double onshore wind farm electricity generation from 15GW to 30 GW by 2030. Assuming wind farms utilise the 180 M turbines such as those proposed by Cubico for Scout Moor II, then that would require around 3150 (10 x 15 x 21) turbines to be built in the next 5 years! If we believe what Cubico are saying that their wind farm will create ‘hundreds of skilled green jobs across the lifetime of the project’ then the total jobs required (let’s say 300 jobs minimum per wind farm) will exceed 45,000 (300 x 10 x 15) Assume the majority of those are needed over the next five years, as Cubico say only 10 people are required to run the site when it is operational, where will these skilled people will come from in such a short time?

Apparently, according to National Grid Electricity System Operator (NESO), since October 2022 the transmission connections queue has grown by more than 275GW, and has been growing at an average of over 20GW a month for the last 12 months. The distribution connections queue has also continued to grow, and was expected to exceed 800GW by the end of 2024. Where does this project sit in this queue, that is, if it has been included? And why, if there is currently more than enough proposals to fulfil more than FOUR TIMES the energy requirement for 2050, does this proposal need to go ahead anyway?

The area needed to fulfil the requirement of 3150 turbines, if Scout Moor area is replicated, would be around the size of Greater Manchester! Where is this Government intending to build all these turbines?

Cubico have stated that the lifespan of the wind farm is expected to be 40 years, which appears extremely optimistic. If it is somehow agreed that 40 years is viable, what mechanism is to be used to tie in Cubico’s responsibility for decommissioning after this lifespan? If we assume a lifespan of 20 to 25 years, which is still the industry norm for wind turbines, then by around 2050 we would expect these turbines would need replacing. But also during this time span existing wind farms, of various ages, would need replacing. For example the original Scout Moor wind farm is due to be shut down around 2033, however it cannot be simply decommissioned (assuming someone responsible can be found to carry this out). It will need to be replaced to ensure continuity of supply. Therefore on top of doubling the existing onshore capacity, there will be the added need of replacing the existing wind farms as they come to the end of their life and one would presume that the replacement would have to be built before decommissioning and therefore will need yet another site!

The UK has over 700 onshore wind farms, and the average age of a UK onshore wind turbine is around 12 years old. Therefore UK’s wind industry faces challenges from its aging fleet with turbines reaching the end of their operational life and the industry in danger of losing nearly 9GW of the country’s total 14.8GW capacity by 2040.

Therefore it could be assumed that to in addition to installing 3150 new wind turbines there would be a need to install around an extra 1890 turbines needing another 27,000 employees and a total area now needed that would be bigger than Greater London!

A wind farm is not just for 2030, under Labour’s plans, it is for ever!  There can be no end to building, replacing and extending, covering more and more of the UK with wind farms – this cannot be the answer!

STOP this madness NOW.