The government has published changes to the national planning policy framework (NPPF), which it says puts “builders not blockers first”.
In line with the Clean Power Action Plan published today (13 December), the new NPPF is firm on the urgent need to cut carbon emissions, stating that planning authorities should give “significant weight to the benefits associated with renewable and low carbon energy generation and the proposal’s contribution to a net zero future” when determining applications.
This better aligns the framework with National Policy Statements (NPSs), which cover nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs). Adjustments mean that NPS EN-3 calls NSIPs “critical national priority”, and as such their “national security, economic, commercial and net zero benefits” should outweigh impacts from their development.
The government has also removed a provision added to the NPPF under the previous Conservative government that gave ground for local authorities to refuse consent for solar farms if they were a threat to food production. The idea that solar development impacts food security has been repeatedly proven false.
As proposed earlier this year, the government has revised the capacity threshold that qualifies a project as an NSIP. Although the original consultation proposed making the threshold three times higher than it is currently (150MW up from 50MW), the new framework states any generation project over 100MW will be referred to the secretary of state for a development consent order (DCO).
The new threshold will apply from the end of 2025. For onshore wind projects, which will be referred to energy secretary Ed Miliband for a DCO if they have a capacity over 100MW, the change could push more projects through.
Local councils have historically objected to onshore wind generation; there was a decline in onshore wind projects of 94% since 2015 when the Conservative government tightened planning regulations for wind farms and imposed a de facto onshore wind ban. Under previous rules only a few local objections would be enough to block a project.
The argument in favour of raising the threshold is that the application process for a DCO is more complex, and thus expensive, than those made under the Town and Council Planning Act (TCPA).
As a result, projects tend to hover around a 49MW capacity, with projects in the 50-150MW range deemed not cost effective by developers. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) argues that the new proposal should remedy this.
Trade association Solar Energy UK pointed out that there have been no solar developments brought forward with capacity between 50MW and 99.9MW in England “due to the extra time and resources of the NSIP regime” although there are 174 either built or in the pipeline with a 49.9MW capacity.
Energy UK CEO Dhara Vyas commented: “We support the need for fundamental changes that speed up the planning process, enable the swift construction of critical infrastructure, cutting the time for grid connections and enabling more homes and more businesses to benefit from the expansion of clean energy far more quickly.”
A version of this article originally appeared on our sister site, Solar Power Portal.
