Wind energy to see continued investment following years of growth

Chart 1: Total Value of Wind Energy Project Starts

In May, a £365m wind farm was given permission to begin building in South Wales. The 76 turbine development will be the highest generating onshore wind farm in England and Wales, and will boost Wales' renewable energy generation by 37%.

Wind and other renewable energy has been a growing area of investment all round the UK, with funds also flowing to Scotland, Yorkshire and the South East of England in the past two years.

Glenigan data highlights the increasing focus on investment in wind energy projects. The value of onshore and offshore project starts tripled between 2007 and 2011. This was in part thanks to the £2bn offshore London Array project starting last year. However, the underlying positive trend is more than just a one off.

Investment has continued over this year in the sector, which has benefitted from the increased focus on clean energy generation and significant government subsidies over the past five years. The biggest project to be started in the four months to April 2012 was a £750m wind farm off the Welsh coast. While this is an exceptional project, there were still plenty of smaller projects popping up around the UK.

These projects tend to be worth between £5m and £25m, and are one of the few types of building that isn’t becoming increasingly focussed in the South East of England. Scotland, in particular, has seen a good deal of investment into wind energy, and we anticipate this will continue. 

Though it might be tricky for the industry to reach the heights of last year, there are going to be a number of medium sized wind projects starting which will boost the value of utilities construction, and eventually add to power generation capabilities.