What has driven onshore wind farm closures in the UK, and what happens next? Understanding end-of-life pathways

Cowell, Richard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1639-8004, De Laurentis, Carla ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6510-9926 and Windemer, Rebecca 2026. What has driven onshore wind farm closures in the UK, and what happens next? Understanding end-of-life pathways. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 10.1080/1523908x.2026.2671260

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Abstract

As increasing numbers of wind farms reach the end of their operational lives, the management of onshore wind energy closures is becoming an important yet under-examined dimension of renewable energy transitions. Existing research has focused largely on techno-economic assessments or idealised projections of recyclability and decommissioning, with little empirical evidence of what happens in practice. This paper addresses this gap through a multi-method investigation of all UK onshore wind farms that have closed to date. It identifies the factors driving closure, evaluates the extent of infrastructure removal and site remediation and examines the environmental and social outcomes. By analysing key cases in detail, the study reveals different ‘end-of-life pathways’ shaped by interacting technical, economic and institutional pressures: ‘becoming unnecessary’, ‘becoming uneconomic’ and ‘becoming environmentally unacceptable’. Many of the factors driving closure reflect technology and siting choices shaped by the early years of the UK’s onshore wind development, but the cases also yielded wider insights into decommissioning practices and how ‘successful outcomes’ are judged. More broadly, the research also exposes significant data limitations and conceptual ambiguities in end-of-life research, and offers a more grounded basis for understanding future decommissioning challenges, for sites, materials and places.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/, Start Date: 2026-05-14
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1523-908X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 May 2026
Date of Acceptance:	4 May 2026
Last Modified:	02 Aug 2026 01:38
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187228

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