Onshore wind projects will be allowed to bypass local planning processes under proposals laid out by energy secretary Ed Miliband.
Government plans unveiled on Friday will see onshore wind brought back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime in England.
Ministers would get the final say as a result, after onshore wind has faced a de facto ban since 2015 under rules bought in by David Cameron’s government.
“At the moment we have nationally significant infrastructure projects, which are decided by me,” Miliband explained on BBC Breakfast on Friday.
“We don’t have that for onshore wind because it was banned from 2015 to 2024 - until this government came to office - by the last government, leaving us vulnerable.”
New onshore wind projects have slumped by 94% since 2015 when the new rules meaning plans could be effectively blocked by just a few local objections emerged.
Miliband’s plans come under wider aims to power the UK with 95% clean power by 2030.
“There are difficult trade-offs here and unless we change the way we do things we are going to be left exposed as a country,” he added on Friday.
“In the end it will be a national decision.”
Industry body Offshore Energies UK called for decarbonisation plans to coincide with the use of “significant oil and gas reserves” in the country’s waters.
“Where you get energy from and how much it costs is the cornerstone of the entire economy,” it said in a statement.
“The UK is now importing more energy than at any time in the last 60 years [...] we should use [oil and gas] responsibly alongside an acceleration of renewable energy.”