How wind power grew in United Kingdom
In Orkney, a 100 kW turbine built by John Brown was ordered in 1949 and connected in 1955 at Costa Head, on the islands' own local network. The UK's first commercial wind farm opened at Delabole in Cornwall in late 1991. Peter Edwards and his son Martin set up Windelectric and installed ten 400 kW Vestas turbines. The UK's first offshore wind farm opened at Blyth on 7 December 2000, about 1 km from the shore.
The first renewables order under the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation was made on 12 September 1990. The Renewables Obligation then ran from 2002 until it closed to all new capacity in 2017. In England, planning rules made new onshore farms very hard to approve until the government removed them on 8 July 2024. England's onshore capacity rose only from 3,066 MW at the end of 2017 to 3,094 MW in mid-2026. Hornsea 1 became the world's first offshore project above 1 GW in 2019.
At the end of 2025 the UK had 33,080 MW of wind: 16,431 MW onshore and 16,650 MW offshore. Offshore capacity passed onshore for the first time that year. Wind generated 86.4 TWh in 2025, 29.5% of the UK's electricity. Scotland holds most onshore wind, with 10,926 MW in mid-2026. With Berwick Bank approved in 2025, consented offshore capacity reached the low end of the government's 2030 range of 43 to 50 GW.
Sources: The Orkney News · RenewableUK · Ember · legislation.gov.uk · Ofgem · Osborne Clarke · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Where United Kingdom's power comes from, 2025
| Source | Share of electricity |
|---|---|
| Gas | 31.1% |
| Wind | 29.4% |
| Bioenergy | 14.1% |
| Nuclear | 12.4% |
| Solar | 6.6% |
| Other fossil fuels | 4.4% |
| Hydro | 1.9% |
| Coal | 0.1% |
Wind farms in United Kingdom
We track 1,290 wind farms in United Kingdom: 31.6 GW operating and 80.3 GW under construction, consented or planned, with 76.7 GW of it offshore. Each one's owners, turbines and status are in the Wind app.
Electricity data: Ember yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0). Wind farms: national registers and Global Energy Monitor; see data sources.
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