UK wind farm ownership at a glance
- Largest operator
- Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy)
- Top 10 share of capacity
- 44%
- Companies with operational wind
- 431
- Company labels in the database
- 1,299
4.4 GW
The 25 biggest UK wind farm owners and operators
The REPD records one combined “operator or applicant” name per project. Joint ventures appear under the label the source uses, and subsidiaries of the same group can appear as separate labels, so a group's true total can be higher than shown. Browse every label in the UK wind farm companies directory.
Biggest wind farm developers in the pipeline
| # | Owner / operator (as recorded) | Pipeline capacity | Linked projects |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottish Power Renewables | 9,145.4 MW | 46 |
| 2 | RWE Renewables UK Limited | 7,151.8 MW | 12 |
| 3 | BP Oil UK Limited / ENBW UK Limited | 5,900 MW | 4 |
| 4 | Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy) | 5,355 MW | 14 |
| 5 | Scottish Southern Energy Renewables | 4,100 MW | 1 |
| 6 | SSE/Equinor (formerly Statoil, formerly Forewind) | 3,600 MW | 2 |
| 7 | RWE Renewables UK Limited / Masdar | 3,000 MW | 2 |
| 8 | Shell New Energies / ScottishPower Renewables | 3,000 MW | 1 |
| 9 | Thistle Wind Partners | 2,008 MW | 2 |
| 10 | Ocean Winds | 2,000 MW | 2 |
| 11 | Total Energies / RIDG | 2,000 MW | 1 |
| 12 | RWE Renewables | 1,873 MW | 3 |
| 13 | Nadara | 1,800 MW | 1 |
| 14 | Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) | 1,752.5 MW | 49 |
| 15 | Green Investment Group / Total Energies | 1,500 MW | 1 |
See the projects themselves in proposed wind farms and wind farms under construction.
How wind farm ownership works
The company named in planning records is often not the long-term owner. Developers frequently sell projects once consented or built, and large offshore wind farms are usually split between several shareholders: a utility that builds and operates the site, plus pension funds and infrastructure investors that buy stakes. Older onshore wind farms are often owned by listed funds that buy operating assets.
For the legal owner of a specific site, check its project company on Companies House. For offshore wind, The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland publish the seabed lease holder for each site.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the most wind farms in the UK?
Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy) is the largest owner or operator of UK wind capacity in the July 2026 REPD, with 4.4 GW operational across 14 linked projects.
Who owns UK wind farms?
UK wind farms are owned by a mix of European utilities, UK energy companies, investment funds and community groups. The ten largest operators recorded in the REPD control 44% of operational wind capacity.
Are UK wind farms foreign-owned?
Many of the largest are owned wholly or partly by overseas companies such as Ørsted (Denmark), Vattenfall (Sweden), RWE (Germany) and EDP (Portugal), often in joint ventures with UK pension and infrastructure funds.
Who develops new wind farms in the UK?
Scottish Power Renewables has the largest recorded pipeline, with 9.1 GW of projects under construction, consented or in planning.
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.