The battle for wind farms: can ‘blockers’ defeat the government? | Science, climate and technology news

“An ineffective form of renewable energy…carpet-bombing the countryside…irreversible damage.”

These are loud, angry and organised campaigners against onshore wind in Wales.

Dozens of new projects are set to break ground on the hills of Cymru as the government races to meet its clean energy targets.

It says it is ready to take on “disruptors” to create hundreds of budding steel giants with the goal of making energy cheaper, cleaner and more secure.

But in Wales, these “blockers” also see themselves as environmentalists: nature lovers who fear the plans will forever destroy their countryside and culture.

He is convinced that there are better ways to make Wales greener.

So who’s really saving Wales?

A few hundred protesters chanted “No more pylons” at lunchtime in February outside the Welsh Parliament in cold weather.

Many involved in the protests distanced themselves from Reform UK politicians, who have vocally opposed onshore wind as they question the extent to which the climate is changing.

“Very few of us are climate deniers,” says a protester in Cardiff. “We all realise there is a problem…the question is: How do we solve it?”

The answer, he says, is a mix of offshore wind, community projects and rooftop solar, which he argues can meet Wales’s needs without building turbines that would also send electricity to England.

Because they are troubled by the feeling that history is repeating itself: another Welsh resource – after water and coal – harvested to keep England’s lights on.

But with electricity demand in Wales set to at least double by 2050, and 60% of it still coming from gas, Labour says doing without onshore wind is a luxury it cannot afford.

Welsh Labour told Sky News that “if we rely solely on community-owned generation, it will be challenging to provide the electricity needed at the pace required for the climate emergency”.

The Ghost of Hendy Wind Farm

The shadow of the Hendy wind farm dominates the debate. Seven “ghost turbines” were built in Powys, despite council objections, which were never connected to the grid.

While the industry calls Hendy an anomaly, locals see it as a cautionary tale of broken promises and reckless haste.

This is why they are opening a front against the proposed Nant Mithil Energy Park. The project will place a 220-metre-high turbine – twice the height of Big Ben – on the peaceful hilltop of Radnor Forest.

While the site could power 130,000 homes, campaigner Nigel Dodman sees only an “ecological disaster”.

“Because of industrialisation, they have to build 27 kilometres of roads, whatever construction work is going on,” he says.

“Do we destroy this landscape and its ecology,” he asks, “or do we preserve it for future generations?”

What does the majority say?

While the opposition is vigorous, the data shows they are swimming upstream.

According to a survey by the think tank More in Common, around 80% of Welsh citizens are comfortable with seeing turbines, while 22% are not.

A UK government survey shows that more people in the UK would be happy to host onshore wind in their area than those who would not.

But support for exemptions at a hyper-local level was met with widespread local opposition to Nantucket and another plan for Powys called Garreg Fawr.

And this vocal minority knows that the net zero policy is going to be implemented in the Welsh elections in May.

They have also gained the support of the Campaign to Protect Rural Wales (CPRW). Its trustee Jonathan Dean says, “Building onshore wind is fast and easy, but we have time to do it right.”

He says Labour cannot take public support for its clean power lightly.

“If public outrage continues to grow, and a political party intent on ‘cancelling net zero’ gains any power, we will have the worst possible outcome. Net zero needs to maintain its ‘social licence’.”

Who is winning the battle of the political environment?

Meanwhile, the industry itself is attempting to sweeten the deal by offering above-average, though voluntary, funding to local communities hosting energy infrastructure, in addition to jobs and training.

Jess Hooper, of trade body RenewableUK Cymru, said: “For areas around wind farms, there is a community benefit fund, which is worth more than £6 million a year.

“Then jobs and economic growth lead to economic opportunity and investment in our rural areas, which have not seen such investment for many years.”

‘Next, it could be you.’

Wherever the energy comes from, a large number of new projects are in the pipeline to meet the growing demand.

This fact, combined with the upcoming elections, increases the risk for the government to convince people that compromise is worth it.

As far as NIMBYs are concerned, a protester in Cardiff says, “Yes, we’re NIMBYs, but we also don’t understand why they have to start destroying them when there are so many alternatives, leaving areas of the countryside basically untouched.”

Nigel Dodman tells me: “I’d say there’s a new definition of NIMBY, which is… ‘Next, it could be you.'”