Why the MoD Is Blocking Four UK Windfarms Over Radar Fears
The Ministry of Defence has objected to at least four planned windfarms in the past year over unacceptable interference with radars used to detect military aircraft. The Guardian
In late June, MoD officials wrote to Britain's planning authority to oppose the onshore Hope Moor windfarm in County Durham. The department said aircraft could go undetected inside an RAF Low Flying Area, a zone used for fast, low-level training, if the scheme went ahead. Hope Moor would have 23 turbines up to 200m tall. Because it is classed as nationally significant, the final decision rests with the energy secretary.
The other cases cover onshore and offshore wind. The MoD opposed a six-turbine plan at Burton Agnes near Driffield in the East Yorkshire Wolds. It warned of an unmanageable risk from a 13-turbine scheme near the Scottish borders. It also said a proposed 87-turbine offshore windfarm in the Irish Sea could interfere with aviation radar systems at the British Aerospace Warton base in Lancashire.
Hope Moor is one of four projects opposed by the Not One Moor campaign led by former England cricketer Lord Botham, along with Scout Moor in Lancashire, Walshaw Moor in West Yorkshire and Ray Fell in Northumberland. The government aims to double UK onshore wind capacity by 2030.
Turbine blades can confuse radar. Radar listens for a faint echo from an aircraft, and spinning blades add loud false echoes on top. Government papers say large offshore windfarms may cause saturation of the returned radar signal, when the receiver is overwhelmed. UK Government Those papers state that MoD objections to offshore sites within radar line of sight, meaning places the radar can directly see, are causing attrition, or steady loss, in the deployment pipeline. UK Government The MoD's Air Surveillance and Control Systems uses Air Defence Radar to support operational flights in UK airspace and training exercises.
Mitigation practice centres on siting and radar modification. One option is removing problem turbines from site plans where the location would cause interference. U.S. Department of Energy Proposed fixes for offshore effects include infill radar, radar-absorbing coatings and phased-arrays, which steer the beam electronically. IEEE Spectrum Testing has used dedicated flights, with each MoD-run demonstration given a five-day period with 30 hours of Diamond DA-42 light-aircraft flying. A 2012 agreement for industry funding of wind-farm-friendly radars was assessed as able to unlock more than four gigawatts.
The pattern goes beyond these four cases. The MoD has routinely objected to onshore applications that could affect the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array. In November 2025 it opposed a 1.4GW offshore project planned by Danish developer Orsted.
The broader context here is that military and energy maps now overlap. Low flying areas, air defence zones and training airspace need constant detection. Rows of 200m structures create interference in those same volumes. When a project is large enough to count as nationally significant, the choice is made by a minister rather than a local council.
Looking at what this means for deployment, the near-term question is which fixes will be approved and who will pay. Industry-funded radar replacement has precedent. Each site still needs a line-of-sight check. For a programme aiming to double onshore capacity by 2030, radar will shape which projects move first and which face consent risk.
