Offshore wind farms in UK waters

Off the coast of the UK, offshore wind farms are mostly in English waters: that is where the most turbines and gigawatts operate. The next wave is gathering further north, in Scottish waters, where every application awaiting a decision sits. Councils do not approve these projects: in English and Welsh waters the Energy Secretary decides, in Scotland it is the Scottish Ministers, and refusals from either are rare. The picture below is built from the July 2026 REPD extract; some project statuses have not been updated for a long time; the record last updated date is shown in the project table.

↓ All offshore wind projects↓ Who consents offshore wind

How many farms there are and at what stage

The register holds 109 offshore wind projects. 49 are operational, together 16.0 GW; another 37 are approved or under construction (8 on site, 29 with permission but work not started), and 14 are awaiting a decision. That works out at roughly three approved or under-construction farms for every four operational ones.

England, Scotland, Wales: where farms run and where the queue sits

English waters hold 34 operational farms totalling 11.0 GW. Scotland has 12 operational ones at 4.3 GW, plus all 14 applications awaiting a decision. A few more farms operate in the Irish Sea off the Welsh coast. Onshore and offshore projects for each nation are gathered on the England, Scotland and Wales pages.

Largest farms: operational and in the queue

Among operational farms, Hornsea 2 - Optimus and Breesea comes first at 1,320 MW: it stands in the North Sea, 100 km from the East Riding of Yorkshire coast. The largest in the queue is Berwick Bank at 4,100 MW: permission granted, construction not started. Under construction are Dogger Bank A and B, with Dogger Bank C and Sofia next to them in the register.

Who approves and how often refusals happen

In English and Welsh waters the Energy Secretary decides: formerly under Section 36 of the Electricity Act, now as a nationally significant infrastructure project, through a development consent order (DCO) after examination by the Planning Inspectorate. In Scotland the Scottish Ministers decide through Marine Scotland. Of 90 offshore wind decisions in REPD, a refusal appears in 6 records, and some of those refusals were later overturned. All ministerial decisions on solar and wind are collected on the Energy Secretary decisions page.

Farms near your coast

Offshore farms sit far from shore, so the search radius for them is wider than for onshore ones. Enter your postcode district on the homepage: the district page will list offshore farms within 40 km of its centre. Distance is measured from the project point in the register to the nearest postcode on land.

The essentials on offshore wind from the extract

Of 109 projects, 49 are operational (16.0 GW), 37 are approved or under construction, 14 are awaiting a decision, all of them in Scottish waters. England leads on operational farms: 34 at 11.0 GW against Scotland's 12 at 4.3 GW. The largest operational farm is Hornsea 2 (1,320 MW), the largest approved one Berwick Bank (4,100 MW). Refusals are rare: 6 records out of 90 decisions. Statuses and dates come from the REPD extract for July 2026; the register may lag behind decisions, and decisions made after the extract are not shown on the site.