The headline numbers
- Operational wind projects
- 834
- Operational capacity
- 31.5 GW
- Onshore
- 785
- Offshore
- 49
- Operational turbines
- 10,258
- In the pipeline
- 754
744 with two or more turbines
Recorded installed capacity
15.5 GW
16 GW
Onshore and offshore
Building, consented or in planning
Offshore wind farms are few in number but very large: the 49 offshore projects provide 51% of operational wind capacity, while the 785 onshore projects make up 94% of the count. That is why “how many wind farms” and “how much wind power” give very different pictures.
Wind farms by UK nation
| Nation | Projects | Capacity | Turbines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 360 | 14,513.8 MW | 4,866 |
| England | 316 | 13,844.2 MW | 3,737 |
| Northern Ireland | 83 | 1,215.7 MW | 591 |
| Wales | 75 | 1,945.7 MW | 1,064 |
Scotland accounts for 43% of operational UK wind projects and 46% of capacity. Scotland has 360, England has 316, Northern Ireland has 83, Wales has 75. Offshore projects are counted under the nation whose waters they sit in.
See where they are on the UK wind farm locations guide.
How many onshore and offshore wind farms are there?
| Type | Projects | Capacity | Turbines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onshore | 785 | 15,508.3 MW | 7,353 |
| Offshore | 49 | 16,011 MW | 2,905 |
| UK total | 834 | 31,519.4 MW | 10,258 |
The average operational offshore project is 327 MW, compared with 20 MW onshore. Full lists: every UK offshore wind farm and every UK onshore wind farm.
How the number of UK wind farms has grown
| Period | New projects | New capacity | Running total | Cumulative capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 2000 | 37 | 0.3 GW | 37 | 0.3 GW |
| 2000–2004 | 56 | 0.8 GW | 93 | 1.1 GW |
| 2005–2009 | 136 | 3.3 GW | 229 | 4.3 GW |
| 2010–2014 | 286 | 7.8 GW | 515 | 12.2 GW |
| 2015–2019 | 262 | 10.9 GW | 777 | 23.1 GW |
| 2020–2024 | 45 | 6.7 GW | 822 | 29.8 GW |
| 2025 onwards | 9 | 1.7 GW | 831 | 31.5 GW |
Counts include only projects still operational today, grouped by the date they first generated. Projects that have since been decommissioned are excluded.
How many more wind farms are coming?
| Stage | Projects | Capacity | Turbines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under construction | 45 | 13,884.3 MW | 1,297 |
| Consented, awaiting construction | 401 | 38,064.9 MW | 3,883 |
| Application submitted | 308 | 28,924.4 MW | 3,008 |
The pipeline holds 80.9 GW of proposed capacity, more than the 31.5 GW operating today. Not every project will be built: applications can be refused or withdrawn, and consented schemes can lapse.
What counts as a wind farm?
There is no single official definition. This guide counts REPD project records with status “Operational”. That includes 90 single-turbine schemes, which is why we also show the 744 projects with two or more turbines. Extensions and later phases of the same site are separate records, so the number of physical wind farm sites is lower than the record count.
Other published totals differ because they use older snapshots, different size thresholds or count sites rather than records. Our figures are dated to the July 2026 snapshot and can be checked record by record in the wind farm database.
Frequently asked questions
How many wind farms are there in the UK?
The July 2026 Renewable Energy Planning Database records 834 operational wind projects in the UK with 31.5 GW of capacity. 744 of them have two or more turbines; the rest are single-turbine schemes.
How many offshore wind farms are there in the UK?
There are 49 operational offshore wind projects with 2,905 turbines and 16 GW of capacity. A further 51 offshore projects are under construction, consented or in planning.
How many onshore wind farms are there in the UK?
There are 785 operational onshore wind projects with 7,353 turbines and 15.5 GW of capacity.
Which part of the UK has the most wind farms?
Scotland has the most, with 360 operational wind projects (43% of the UK total) and 14.5 GW of capacity.
How many wind farms are being built in the UK?
45 wind projects totalling 13.9 GW are under construction, 401 more have consent and are awaiting construction, and 308 have applications submitted.
Sources and method
Figures come from the July 2026 extract of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), which tracks UK renewable projects through planning, construction and operation. Each figure is calculated directly from the source records and refreshes when a new snapshot is imported.
The REPD counts project records, not physical sites. Extensions, repowering schemes and later phases can appear as separate records, and very small turbines below the database threshold are not included. Status reflects the snapshot date; developers' later announcements can differ. Read the full methodology and limitations.