Call to Improve Security After Big Rise in Windfarm Copper Thefts

Copper thieves have been targeting England's onshore windfarms, and security experts say organised gangs could be behind the crimewave.

- Jillian Ambrose

At least 12 large windfarms in Essex, Cambridgeshire, North Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Humberside, Northamptonshire, and Lincolnshire have been hit by cabling thieves in the past three months.

There are usually fewer than five opportunistic incidents a year, so the spree suggests an organised group may be targeting the industry, according to DeterTech Crime Intelligence.

"The current state of offending is exceptional and unlike anything I've seen," said Richard Crisp, an analyst at DeterTech. "It's also noteworthy that those reports were typically of isolated single turbines, whereas in 2025 they have all been of large windfarms, operating multiple turbines."