Onward 2030 Work Package 3: The Future of Wind Mitigation

Onward 2030 Work Package 3 (WP3) has been produced with the aim of seeking agreement on a strategy for mitigating the impacts of wind developments on aviation systems, mainly Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR). As the onshore wind industry expands and becomes more prominent in the UK’s energy sector, the implications for aviation safety have never been more prevalent. There have been five work packages undertaken to improve the development process for developers under Onward 2030, with Pager Power being consulted on this particular Work Package. WP3’s aim is to produce a mutually agreed report that details the collective understanding of available mitigation solutions (derived from Work Package 1) and:

‘To develop an agreed strategy which supports the cooperative delivery of mitigation solutions which can help inform all stakeholders and support overarching Government policies.’ [1]

WP3 Objectives

The main objectives and scope of WP3 include:

• Build consensus for a long-term coexistence strategy for mitigating the impact of wind developments on Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS), with a particular focus on primary radar;
• Promote cross-industry cooperation between the Government, renewable energy and aviation sectors;
• Inform on future decision-making and support Government strategies to enable a shift from fragmented case-by-case agreements towards long-term coexistence between the Aviation and Wind industries
• Use findings from stakeholder interviews as complementary evidence and map observations from stakeholder discussions against the 42 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), highlighting overlapping perspectives;
• Provide a set of recommendations, identifying areas of additional consideration, where stakeholder insights may complement the current DESNZ strategy. Recommendations are intended to provide input to and support subsequent discussions by relevant bodies, such as the Aviation and Defence Management Board (ADMB)

Stakeholder Engagement

In total, 30 organisations, including 11 airports, were contacted for stakeholder engagement, and  16 organisations participated in the consultation. Those who engaged in the consultation are listed below:

• NATS
• UK Civil Aviation Authority (UKCAA)
• Ministry of Defence (MOD)
• DESNZ
• Department for Transport
• Scottish Government 
• Highlands and Islands Airports
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport
• Scottish Power
• Scottish Renewables
• Renewable UK
• Aviatica Group
• QINETIQ
• Cyrrus
• Mackenzie Renewables
• Pager Power

Emergent Themes from Consultation

After collating interview results from the above stakeholders, nine categories of recommendations have been established. These nine categories include recommendations following a review of DESNZ’s Onshore Wind Taskforce Strategy action points [2].

1. Establish clear top-down leadership and governance to align consenting and spatial planning, with aviation safeguarding embedded throughout.

• Use lessons learnt from the current Offshore Wind Industry Council-funded MOD post to ensure the effectiveness of the new post responsible for strategic solutions to onshore wind turbine interference with air traffic control radar.

2. Formalise early, structured cross-sector engagement between aviation, developers, and regulators to surface safeguarding issues sooner.

• Establish a structured process for aviation stakeholder engagement to address safeguarding concerns and prevent potential planning delays.

3. Define transparent mitigation/objection processes supported by standardised approaches and templates.

• Provide a clear standard and guidance for assessing onshore wind impacts on aviation, to identify key issues and ensure a consistent approach to information quality.

4. Develop a central shared data repository to enable consistent analysis and improved transparency.

• Explore whether the proposed site selection tool can be expanded into a central repository incorporating aviation safeguarding maps, wind farm boundaries, and environmental constraints, to support more efficient analysis.

5. Ensure safeguarding assessments are timely, well-resourced and guided by consistent objection-handling principles to prevent delays.

• Develop methods to assess and manage the cumulative impacts of wind farm proliferation on aviation and defence, with particular attention to airspace management and IFPs.

6.  Introduce independent, evidence-based mitigation and validation so mitigation performance evidence is trusted and reusable.

• Establish an independent testing and validation system that would allow sharing of existing and future radar mitigation test and performance results with the Aviation and Wind industry.

7. Provide policy direction on future long-term radar/CNS capability and strategy to align decisions with long-term requirements.

• Provide policy guidance on the future role of primary surveillance radar (PSR) and its expected capabilities to ensure radar procurement decisions are based on long-term strategic planning.
• Develop a framework to provide clearer justifications and evidence for aviation and MOD objections that is based on the underlying requirements for the use of PSR.
• Provide updated guidance on how to effectively assess the likelihood of wind farms having an operational impact on very high frequency communication services.

8. Set clear financial rules and sustainable funding mechanisms to reduce uncertainty and avoid ad hoc negotiations.

• Establish clear rules on the definition of allowable mitigation costs and allocation of long-term mitigation costs to avoid disputes between developers and aviation stakeholders.
• Offer clarity on how the proposed central mitigation fund will be managed, what the source of funding will be, and which organisation will manage the fund.
• Encourage structured industry-government forums to coordinate financial solutions and divert from piecemeal, case-by-case mitigation.
• Improve visibility of available financial support mechanisms and criteria, so developers and aviation stakeholders can plan mitigation solutions with greater certainty.

9. Strengthen cross-sector capability, skills, and training (including CNS) and provide support to smaller operators.

• Expand the Clean Energy Workforce Strategy to incorporate aviation CNS skills as part of the enabling workforce.
• Explore multi-disciplinary training initiatives (CAA/MOD/Airports/developers) and the development of standardised technical resources to address expertise gaps, strengthen technical capacity and rapidly upskill new entrants.
• Explore cost-effective measures for providing necessary technical expertise and resources to small airports for assessing the impacts of wind farms and defining and managing acceptable mitigation solutions.

Summary

WP3 mitigation strategy report outlines that there is an industry-wide interest in developing clearer, more defined leadership and structure regarding wind developments and aviation safeguarding. Improved, structured engagement between stakeholders and developers is requested to reduce delays in planning applications. Clarity and transparency are also requested with regard to mitigation solutions, costs, and timeframes. Understanding the available mitigation options and costs would be of huge benefit to developers during feasibility to determine project costs and potential aviation objections. Overall, the responses from stakeholders are in line with industry-wide calls for more structured frameworks that create a standardised system for mitigating aviation impacts. Although there is a long way to go before the process is streamlined, continued communication between the different industry stakeholders is an important step forward in the process.

How can Pager Power Help?

Pager Power has been assisting wind developers overcome complex aviation issues for almost 25 years. Pager Power can assess proposed wind developments and can give advice to developers on where their site is located relative to nearby aerodromes and radar.

For more information about what we do, please get in touch.

References

[1]  Onward 2030 Work Package 3 Mitigation Solutions Strategy Report, 2026.

[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68678b6bd520affe4e581cc1/onshore-wind-taskforce-strategy.pdf 

Image accreditation: Miraxh Tereziu  (Oct 2025) from Unsplash.com. Last accessed on 16 July 2026. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/view-from-airplane-window-showing-wind-turbines-below-Ps7VJIb2RTg