Onshore and offshore wind in the UK
Onshore plants still account for the greatest share of capacity installed, there being nearly 1,500 wind farms spread across the country. However, despite the difference in offshore capacity being significantly lower, offshore turbines generated close to the same amount of electricity and heat in terms of energy generation. Wind generators became the UK’s second-largest electricity source, contributing almost one-fifth of the UK’s total generation. In 2020, wind plants at sea contributed nearly 40 thousand gigawatt hours to the power grid, compared with 34 thousand gigawatt hours added by onshore sites. This may be due to the greater utilization rate of offshore wind energy. Between 2010 and 2020, the load factor for offshore turbines grew from 30.5 to 45.7 percent, whilst turbines situated on land had a load factor ranging from 21.8 to 28.1 percent in the same time period.Clyde Wind Farm, the biggest onshore site in the UK, has a capacity of 350 megawatts and is made up of 152 turbines. Only two of the currently operational wind farms on land have a capacity exceeding 300 megawatts, whereas this number was over a dozen for offshore sites.
