Approval has been granted for what will be England’s largest onshore wind farm.

Developers Peel Energy and United Utilities have been given the green light to add a further 16 turbines to the Scout Moor onshore wind farm’s 25 existing turbines.

It will bring the total capacity of Scout Moor to 101.8MW - making it England’s largest, and capable of powering over 62,000 homes.

Planning permission has been given for 14 of the 16 new turbines, but the final two are within the boundary of Rochdale Metropolitan Council, which is still considering the application.

It is the latest in a long line of bold moves towards energy independence in the UK.

The UK's largest wind farm is the Whitlee farm on Eaglesham Moor in Scotland, which has 140 turbines and an installed capacity of 322MW.

A new report from the centre-right think-tank Policy Exchange found onshore wind would be price competitive with new gas by 2020, providing it has the right support. 

But England’s conservative government has not come to the table, and has instead ended new subsidies for onshore wind from the start of 2016.

That move has been criticised for blocking around 250 planned wind farms and 2,500 turbines.

Onshore wind has emerged as one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy in the world, producing power at just over $100/MWh on average.