Powerbook

Publish new National Policy Statements for Renewables, Nuclear, and Energy Networks as soon as possible to provide certainty to reduce planning delays and regulatory uncertainty.

Create a true one-stop shop for major energy infrastructure projects by amending the 2008 Planning Act so developers no longer have to seek consents from multiple agencies for environmental and other regulatory permits. This requirement should be replaced with a statutory duty for the relevant Secretary of State to have due regard to public comments from relevant agencies.

Create a Clean Energy Task Force to speed up the deployment of new energy projects modelled on the existing National Case Team in the Department for Transport which discharges ‘requirements’ (the equivalent of planning conditions) for road projects. This would ensure local planning authorities are not required to replicate functions carried out by central government.

Address staffing constraints at DESNZ, Natural England, and the Environment Agency that risk creating bottlenecks within the planning process.

Prevent delays at the decision stage by creating a statutory requirement on the Secretary of State to consider if additional questions to the developer are necessary two months into the three month decision timeframe.

Extend the planned reduction in statutory timescales from 18 months to 12 months for offshore wind projects to all clean energy projects including solar, nuclear next to existing nuclear sites, and transmission lines. Additionally, there should be a presumption in statutory guidance that the pre-examination process should be limited to a maximum of 4 months.

The Secretary of State should be responsible for making a final decision on whether to accept projects for examination. The last three years has seen the same number of refusals and withdrawals at the first hurdle as in the first 10 years of the NSIP regime.

Automatically approve project amendments that have positive environmental impacts. Under the status quo, developers are forced to apply for additional planning permission to make changes with ‘materially new or materially different environmental effects’ even if the impact is positive.

Reduce the risk of judicial review for new energy infrastructure projects by amending statutory planning guidance to explicitly consider proportionality, the use of public funds and the impact of delay on critically needed infrastructure when determining whether a consultation is adequate. Guidance should also allow the ‘examination’ phase to be taken into account, as well as applying a ‘presumptive’ pre-examination so that deficiencies can be corrected in that period, rather than being rejected.

Legislate to create a ‘Consultation Unit’ which can legally certify that a project’s consultation is adequate, which would radically reduce consultation-based legal challenges, and ensure developers are not incentivised to ‘over-consult’ when there are additional opportunities for interested parties at the examination stage.

Invest in the creation of better environmental databanks, carry out preliminary environmental studies ahead of offshore lease auctions, and mandate that developers share the results of their environmental studies in full.

Create a new environmental mapping tool to identify areas most appropriate for new renewable projects (i.e. those with low environmental significance). Designate these areas as Clean Power Zones and adopt Spain’s policy of eliminating the default requirement for environmental impact assessments for all onshore wind (75MW and under) and solar projects (150MWs and under) in these zones.

Streamline and enhance environmental protections by replacing Environmental Impact Assessments and Habitats Regulation Assessments with Environmental Outcome Reports and adopting a strategic approach to compensation modelled on the proposed Offshore Wind Environmental Improvement Package.

Create a standardised methodology for carbon assessments within National Policy Statements to provide certainty for infrastructure developers and prevent a common source of legal challenges

Create a new ‘Right to Repower’ in the National Planning Policy Framework granting automatic planning permission to all upgrades to existing renewable sites provided there’s no significant additional visual impact.

Eliminate England’s effective ban on new onshore wind developments by removing the requirement for unanimous consent and replacing it with a Community Safeguard, which allows projects to proceed unless a majority of local residents actively oppose it. New onshore wind developments should be enabled to offer local residents bill discounts.

Unlock a ‘Rooftop Revolution’ by creating a Permitted Development Right to install solar panels on all non-listed commercial rooftops outside of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or Conservation Areas.

Set up Great British Nuclear (GBN) immediately in a limited form, in order to publish a new siting strategy for new nuclear projects. Delays to GBN due to wider questions around project financing should not be allowed to become a barrier to developers scoping out potential sites and engaging local communities.

The National Policy Statement for Nuclear should make clear that SMR and AMRs would be acceptable on any existing nuclear site or site previously deemed suitable for nuclear. Additionally, the NPS should endorse that many disused coal power stations or industrial sites could be repurposed into SMRs and so should benefit from the same policy support.

The National Policy Statement for Nuclear should also emphasise the need for standardisation in SMR design to make sure current policy tests around alternatives and good design do not slow the rapid and programmatic build-out of fleets.

The FSO should be granted the power to direct Ofgem to approve investment in improving transmission network capacity in line with its understanding of the future system. Texas’ Competitive Renewable Energy Zones, where transmission investments are targeted at areas where regulatory constraints on renewable deployment are lowest, should be considered as a model.

Reform grid connections to limit delays by moving from the first-come first-served model to a more market-based system.

Set an Energy Systems Operator backed target for 25GWs of long duration energy storage by 2035.

Publish a new National Policy Statement for non-battery long duration energy storage technologies to enable the delivery of the 2035 target. As a range of long duration energy storage technologies are subject to geographical constraints the National Policy Statement should designate a range of sites such as salt caverns as appropriate.

Reform the energy market for long duration energy storage technologies to de-risk investments in nascent technologies through longer balancing contracts, a level playing field with gas peakers, and contracts that reward the wider benefits of storage beyond spot prices such as meeting thermal constraints.