Labour would force councils to identify sites for thousands of onshore wind turbines, under plans unveiled yesterday.
Sir Keir Starmer said local authorities would have to ‘proactively identify’ potential areas as part of a push for green energy.
Communities will also lose their veto over such projects, he said.
Setting out his plans, Sir Keir also confirmed Labour would ban new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, despite industry warnings that it would damage the economy and ‘throw workers under a bus’.
England has had an effective moratorium on new onshore windfarms since 2015, when planning rules were introduced to allow a single objection to block developments.
Labour pledged last year to end the ban and speed up the process. Sir Keir went further yesterday, suggesting that councils would be set targets for ensuring new windfarms were built.
The UK has almost 9,000 wind turbines generating around 15 gigawatts of energy. Sir Keir said Labour would more than double this to 35 gigawatts by 2030.
‘We have to have a mechanism where we can move forward,’ he said. ‘Otherwise you get to a situation where everybody says, ‘There ought to be more renewables but I just don’t want it near me.’ We have to have a situation where we can resolve that.’
He also triggered a fresh clash with unions after confirming during his speech in the Edinburgh port of Leith that he would ban new exploration in the North Sea.
Sir Keir has watered down his pledge slightly in recent days to say the party would allow exploitation of the giant Rosebank field if it is given a licence before the next election.
But industry experts have warned the wider ban on new licences will harm the economy.
David Whitehouse, chief executive of the trade body Offshore Energies UK, said: ‘Labour’s proposed ban on new exploration licences is too much too soon.
‘It would be damaging for the industry, for consumers and for the UK’s net-zero ambitions.
‘The figures are clear. The UK has 283 active oil and gas fields, but 180 will shut down by 2030.
‘If we don’t replace them with new ones, then production will decline much faster than we can build low- carbon replacements. It means the UK will become
