Onshore wind worth over £500m to economy in 2011 says Government, as major Welsh project is granted approval

The publication of the report, commissioned from business consultancy BiGGAR Economics by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and industry body RenewableUK, coincided with Government approval for the Pen-y-Cymoedd onshore wind development in South Wales. When completed, the scheme will have the highest generating capacity of any onshore wind farm in England and Wales.

"Onshore wind plays an important role in enhancing our energy security," said Energy Minister Charles Hendry, announcing DECC consent for the 299MW project which is expected to be operational from 2016. "It is the cheapest form of renewable energy and reduces our reliance on foreign fuel."

The Government has come under fire from countryside campaigners in recent months over its support for onshore wind generation, and earlier this year 100 Conservative MPs wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron calling for subsidies for the technology to be cut.

The BiGGAR Economics report was based on 18 case studies involving wind farms of different sizes drawn from across the UK. It found that onshore wind supported 8,600 jobs and was worth £548m to the UK economy, with 1,100 jobs worth £84m created at local level.

This figure could only increase by 2020 if onshore wind continued to be deployed at a scale suggested by the Government's Renewable Energy Roadmap, which sets out how it intends to use renewable energy to meet its 2020 European targets, it said. The EU Renewable Energy Directive requires the UK to meet 15% of its overall energy demand and 10% of its transport demand from renewable sources by 2020.

One in three of the jobs at local authority level are in operations and maintenance, the report said, indicating that wind farms continue to provide employment long after the construction phase. In addition, the vast majority of these contracts - as well as those at the development stage - stayed within the UK, with additional opportunities available to UK manufacturers looking to produce some of the 8,000 components needed for a turbine.

"Many activities relating to the development of wind farms are already carried out by UK-based businesses," the report said. "As the sector develops, there are likely to be opportunities to increase this activity."

It added that wind farms also brought more difficult to quantify benefits to local communities, including infrastructure investment around new developments, improvements to wildlife and habitat management and opportunities for community ownership.

Energy company Vattenfall, the developer behind the Pen-y-Cymoedd project, has committed to a community benefits package potentially worth more than £55m over the lifetime of the development to include £3m for habitat management. It will also contribute £6,000 a year per megawatt generated to a Community Trust Fund.

"This study explains why in rural areas 68% of people support wind, and 57% of those living in rural areas recognise that wind brings benefits in terms of jobs – 12% more than those in urban areas," said Maria McCafferty of RenewableUK. "Rather than feeling that wind has been imposed on them real people, across the UK, are recognising the benefits of having wind in their backyard."

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said that onshore wind power was a "cost effective and valuable" part of the UK's energy mix.

"Not only does wind power provide secure, low carbon power to homes and businesses, it supports jobs and brings significant involvement up and down the country too," he said. "Our policies of increasing community involvement will also help ensure the right balance between developers and community interests."