The government will exclude new onshore wind farms from a key subsidy scheme from April next year.

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Rudd continued, "We have a long-term plan to keep the lights on and… keep bills as low as possible for hard-working families. As part of our plan, we are committed to cutting our carbon emissions by fostering enterprise, competition, opportunity and growth." She said the department hopes to “Give local communities the final say over any new windfarms.”

The energy secretary also claimed that there are now enough subsidised onshore wind projects in development for the government to meet its renewable energy commitments, and that the time has come to shift subsidy support to new areas. DECC has not specified which new technologies will benefit from support.

Irrational decision could be subject of Judicial Review

On Thursday, the Scottish government requested that Defra ensure that a “sufficiently flexible” grace period is put in place to cover wind projects that are already in the planning system.

Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing said, “The decision by the UK Government to end the Renewables Obligation next year is deeply regrettable and will have a disproportionate impact on Scotland as around 70 per cent of onshore wind projects in the UK planning system are here. We have warned the UK Government that the decision, which appears irrational, may well be the subject of a Judicial Review.”

The energy department’s decision follows Defra plans from October 2014 to remove subsidies from land used to house solar panels, which ministers claimed was intended to promote increased food production and prevent the countryside from being “blighted by solar farms,” which environment secretary Liz Truss called “ugly”. Defra was unable to produce evidence to back up its policy and the department faced criticism for attempting to “appease UKIP voters” wooed by the far-right party’s anti-renewables stance.

DECC has already announced proposed legal changes to give local communities the final say on onshore windfarm applications in the Queen’s speech. However, the BBC’s environment analyst Roger Harrabin said business leaders have expressed concern that local communities have been offered the power of veto over wind projects, though they do not enjoy the same say on planned nuclear or shale gas fracking developments.

Dr Nina Skorupska, of trade group REA, which has criticised the government’s inconsistent policy approach to renewable energies, responded to the DECC announcement on Thursday by saying, “If the government is to ensure we meet our climate targets in the most cost effective way, it is hard to think of a way we can achieve that without onshore wind, solar PV, biomass power and the renewable heat incentive playing large roles.

“Key decisions to all of these technologies are being made in the next year, and investors need confidence, as does the industry, if our members are going to keep their side of the bargain in driving down costs.”

Dr Skorupska added, “We share Amber Rudd’s goal in getting renewables such as solar to grid parity, but constant piecemeal changes could harm this and add on costs through higher financing and risk.”

Ministers said DECC will look at options to continue support for community energy projects, as part of the Feed-in Tariff Review later this year.