Ukraine built more onshore wind turbines in past year than England

(The Guardian, 28 May 2023) Revelation about war-torn country is ‘terrible indictment’ of UK government, says Ed Miliband.

Ukraine has completed more onshore wind turbines than England since it was occupied by Russian soldiers – despite the UK government’s promise to relax restrictions on onshore windfarms.

Only two onshore wind turbines have been installed in England since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, generating 1 megawatt (MW) of electricity in the Staffordshire village of Keele.

Ukraine’s Tyligulska wind power plant, meanwhile, the first to be built in a conflict zone, has begun generating enough clean electricity to power about 200,000 homes just 60 miles from the frontline in the southern region of Mykolaiv, with 19 turbines providing an installed capacity of 114MW.

Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary, said: “This extraordinary revelation is a terrible indictment of Rishi Sunak and his staggering failure to end the onshore wind ban.

“Even governments fighting for their very survival can get on and build the clean energy infrastructure needed to tackle the cost of living crisis, the energy security crisis, and the climate crisis with more urgency than the Tories can muster.”

External link

The Guardian, 28 May 2023: Ukraine built more onshore wind turbines in past year than England