Written questions, answers and statements

Wind Power: Infrastructure

Show full question

Question for Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

UIN 3973, tabled on 27 November 2023

Question

Kenny MacAskill
Alba Party
East Lothian
Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her Department's policy is on the decommissioning of turbines and blades.

Answer

Graham Stuart
Conservative
Beverley and Holderness
Commons

Answered on

30 November 2023

The decommissioning of all offshore wind turbines, including blades, is a legal obligation for the owners and their plans must be approved by the Secretary of State. Full removal of all offshore renewable energy installations is the default position and installations should be designed and constructed to facilitate that.

For onshore wind turbines and blades, when a local planning authority grants planning permission this will typically include conditions for decommissioning, such as returning a site to its previous state.

In both cases, all waste should be disposed of in accordance with the waste hierarchy.

Answered by

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Named day
Named day questions only occur in the House of Commons. The MP tabling the question specifies the date on which they should receive an answer. MPs may not table more than five named day questions on a single day.