How many wind farms are there in the UK? 831 are turning, and 459 more are on the way
The UK has 831 wind farms operating: 783 on land and 48 at sea. Together they hold 31.6 GW and about 10,200 turbines. The offshore farms are only one in 17, but they hold 51% of the capacity.
The answer depends on what counts as a wind farm. This Wind Watch counts what the government's Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) lists: every onshore project of 1 MW or more, and every project at sea. Phases and extensions that REPD lists apart, such as Walney 1 and 2, count apart. Single turbines below 1 MW, on farms, schools and businesses, aren't in it; they add up to under a gigawatt more.
Scotland has the most
Scotland has 359 of the UK's wind farms and 14.5 GW, most of it on land: its 347 onshore farms hold 10.2 GW, 66% of the UK's onshore wind. England has fewer farms on land (282, 2.9 GW) but most of the offshore wind: 33 farms with 11.0 GW, from Hornsea and Dogger Bank to the Thames estuary.
| Nation | Wind farms | Onshore | Offshore | Capacity (GW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 359 | 347 | 12 | 14.5 |
| England | 315 | 282 | 33 | 13.9 |
| Wales | 75 | 72 | 3 | 1.9 |
| Northern Ireland | 82 | 82 | 0 | 1.2 |
Offshore farms are placed in the nation whose waters they're in.
Most onshore farms are small
A typical onshore wind farm in the UK is a handful of turbines: 237 of the 783 are under 5 MW, and only 19 are 100 MW or more. At sea it's the reverse. The five biggest offshore farms alone hold 5.5 GW, more than every onshore farm in England, Wales and Northern Ireland together.
UK onshore wind farms by size
When they were built
The UK's first commercial wind farm, Delabole in Cornwall, opened in 1991. Building peaked in 2013, when 95 of today's farms came online. Since 2018 only 83 onshore farms have opened, against 85 in 2017 alone, the last year new onshore farms could still join the Renewables Obligation, which closed to them in 2016 with a year's grace. From 2015 to 2024, planning rules also made new onshore farms in England very hard to approve. The rules were lifted in July 2024, and the onshore pipeline has grown since.
UK wind farms operating today, by the year they came online
The biggest
| Offshore | Nation | MW | Turbines | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornsea 2 | England | 1,386 | 165 | 2022 |
| Hornsea 1 | England | 1,218 | 174 | 2020 |
| Seagreen | Scotland | 1,075 | 114 | 2023 |
| Moray East | Scotland | 950 | 100 | 2022 |
| Moray West Offshore Wind Farm Project | Scotland | 882 | 60 | 2025 |
| Onshore | Nation | MW | Turbines | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viking Wind Farm | Scotland | 443 | 103 | 2024 |
| Clyde Wind Farm | Scotland | 350 | 152 | 2012 |
| Whitelee | Scotland | 322 | 140 | 2007 |
| South Kyle Wind Farm | Scotland | 240 | 50 | 2023 |
| Kilgallioch wind farm | Scotland | 239 | 96 | 2017 |
Every one: the largest wind farms in the UK, and in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
459 more on the way
REPD lists 44 wind farms being built, 227 consented and 188 in planning. Most of the capacity is at sea: 61 GW offshore against 20 GW on land. Not all of it will be built: consent doesn't guarantee a contract, and many planned farms are withdrawn or refused.
| Stage | Onshore farms | GW | Offshore farms | GW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Being built | 36 | 2.0 | 8 | 8.9 |
| Consented, not yet built | 197 | 7.1 | 30 | 33.7 |
| In planning | 174 | 10.5 | 14 | 18.1 |
Method and sources
- Every UK wind farm in the Renewable Energy Planning Database (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Open Government Licence v3), as of its latest quarterly release, through Revolution Energy's farm list. Onshore projects of 1 MW or more, as REPD lists them; every offshore project.
- A farm is a REPD record, so phases and extensions listed apart count apart. Turbine counts are REPD's, where it gives them.
- Offshore farms with no nation in REPD are placed in the nation whose waters they're in, by sea boundaries that give REPD's own answer for every offshore farm it does place.
- Figures as of 9 November 2026. Questions about the method: mail@revolutionenergy.net.
Checked against published figures:
- Offshore: ours, 48 farms, 16.1 GW and 2,882 turbines. RenewableUK counted 45 completed offshore wind farms and 16.1 GW in March 2026; The Crown Estate lists 46 fully commissioned farms and 2,820 turbines; the Energy Institute counts about 2,878 offshore turbines. Our extra farms are phases and demonstrators that REPD lists apart.
- Onshore: ours, 15.5 GW. The government's figure for the end of 2025 is 16.4 GW, which includes the small turbines below 1 MW that REPD leaves out.
- Delabole (1991), the Renewables Obligation's closure to onshore wind and the July 2024 change to England's planning rules, as on our United Kingdom page, with its sources.
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