Building clean, green powered Britain: ESNZ holds full day of evidence on how to make energy infrastructure planning work
On Wednesday 21 May the ESNZ Committee will hold a full day of evidence in Parliament to consider proposed changes to the national planning frameworks that govern contentious decisions on where to site major energy infrastructure.
The Committee was given just 8 weeks to report back to Government on its proposed changes to the National Policy Statements that guide planning decisions on energy infrastructure, and issued a quick call for written evidence on 29 April.
Government's Clean Power 2030 target will require most new electricity transmission and offshore wind projects to secure planning consent by next year, and most large-scale onshore projects will need that consent by 2028. NESO predicts that demand for electricity could grow by 11% in just the next 5 years as the UK switches away from gas and we approach the Government’s Clean Power 2030 target - and double by 2050.
Meeting details
But siting the infrastructure needed to generate and carry electricity can be a hotly contested political, cultural and community issue. The Government has indicated that it wants to remove planning ‘blocks’ to the infrastructure development needed for its energy, industrial and growth strategies. But written evidence to the inquiry has questioned the true nature of the challenge to building a clean, green powered UK. The RSPB noted that many of the biggest challenges for delivering more clean energy at pace lie outside the planning system, citing supply chain pressures, difficulties with predicting revenue from projects and recruitment. Do the updates to the National Policy Statements reflect current reality on the ground, in a way that facilitates the right development where it’s needed?
The proposed changes are intended to give decision-makers greater clarity on the weight they should give the competing interests - economic, ecological, aesthetic, energy supply and security - that can severely delay or even halt infrastructure projects. The Committee will consider how national planning policy guidance could in fact work to help get the infrastructure needed for Clean Power by 2030 built, whilst meeting nature conservation objectives and maintaining crucial agricultural productivity.
Across four panels through the day, the Committee will hear expert testimony from environmentalists, local and national energy grid planners, and renewable energy providers.