Could wind turbines be a feature of the South Coast landscape in the near future?

Wind energy is a central part of the UK Government's strategy to achieve net zero. But what are the potentials and problems presented by onshore wind turbines, particularly on the South Coast?

This is the subject of a workshop hosted jointly by SSRP and the Sussex Energy Group (SEG), on Wednesday 9 October, 1.30pm to 5.15pm, at Bramber House 255. 

We will be joined by Dr Charles R Gamble, Managing Director of Community Power Solutions, a community-led organisation that developed the largest onshore wind turbine in England, and Kayla Ente MBE, CEO of Brighton and Hove Energy Services Co-op, a social enterprise dedicated to accelerating the transition to efficient buildings and local sustainable energy.

Other speakers will be announced very soon. View the full schedule and register here.

Wind energy has features that make it one of the most practical and least harmful forms of renewable energy. It is considered by many to be among the cheapest forms of energy. Turbines operate in all types of weather except windless periods. They can be domestically produced, although up to now they have been mostly imported by the UK.

They are constructed from widely-available materials, and their production and maintenance already provides 15,000 UK jobs. After its useful lifetime a wind generator can be disassembled and discarded without the risks caused by decommissioning nuclear power plants, although they are still far from being recyclable.

On the other hand, their presence in the landscape poses a risk to birds and bats who are displaced from their normal flying routes and sometimes directly collide with turbine blades. Birds and other animals also lose habitat because of wind farm construction.

But the main objection to onshore wind turbines is an aesthetic one. Although most people recognise the importance of wind turbines they also consider them to be a blight on the landscape. This ambivalence was well mirrored in a 2023 UK Poll, which found that 78% of people surveyed supported onshore wind energy, while only 43% wanted wind turbines in their local area.

According to this poll the main reason was impact on the view, but also because of impact on plant and animal life, and declining house prices. Also of concern was the lack of benefits these turbines would bring to the local community.

What, then are the prospects for wind energy in the South Coast landscape? Why have so few onshore projects been proposed or approved here? Is support lacking for their construction? How can potential impacts to wildlife and landscape aesthetics be minimised?

What are the prospects for community-ownership of wind power projects? What is the potential for using sites of lower ecological and “landscape” value for new wind generation, e.g. existing industrial and built-up sites, as they do in Bristol and other communities?

The workshop will take an initial look at these questions with the aim to:

1. Identify key issues about siting wind generators in the South Coast landscape.

2. Scope out a potential research agenda to illuminate these issues.

3. Plan a public discourse about wind energy in the South Coast landscape that would engage researchers, civil society groups, farmers, policymakers, representatives from the private sector, and other stakeholders.

The follow-up to the workshop will include planning and fund-raising to carry out the research agenda and public discourse identified by workshop participants. Attendees are encouraged to contribute to the event, through breakout groups and general discussion at the end of the workshop.