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It’s taken 13 years, one judicial overview, two revised drafts, two prolonged session intervals, three iterations of the UK authorities’s division chargeable for vitality, and a substantial amount of technical coverage dialogue, however eventually we have now a brand new suite of Nationwide Coverage Assertion (NPS) for Power.
These NPS have been designated (in different phrases, adopted by authorities) on 17 January 2024 and apply to vitality infrastructure developed in England & Wales, qualifying as nationally vital infrastructure tasks (NSIPs). There are numerous standards within the Planning Act 2008 (the Act) to find out what an NSIP is, however particular to the photo voltaic trade, a photo voltaic PV farm constitutes as a producing station NSIP in England, if its capability exceeds 50MW, and in Wales if the capability exceeds 350MW.
Most would have thought of the coverage context for photo voltaic to be constructive earlier than this newest growth, so why does it matter? What does it imply for the photo voltaic trade and the numerous variety of utility scale photo voltaic tasks being developed throughout a lot of the nation?
A dive into the NSIP course of
The NSIP regime is managed by the Planning Inspectorate, an govt company of the Division for Levelling Up, Properties & Communities. (DLUHC). There are a number of levels to the method and strict deadlines relevant to every stage: pre-application (usually 12-18 months); submission and acceptance of utility (one month); pre-examination (usually three to 6 months); examination (six months); advice report writing (three months); and choice making (three months, until prolonged by authorities).
Designated NPSs are essential as a result of the regulation requires DCO functions to be made in accordance with them. If there isn’t a designated NPS, the regulation requires a DCO utility to be decided having regard to “essential and related” issues.
Now the brand new 2024 NPS have been designated, there are a number of photo voltaic NSIPs on the pre-application stage and have on the Planning Inspectorate’s web site, and plenty of extra in origination, that should be decided in accordance with these NPS. This can be a a lot stronger place for these tasks to be in.
That mentioned, the 2024 NPSs may even profit these tasks already awaiting willpower, in examination or accepted by the Planning Inspectorate, earlier than they have been designated, as a result of they signify the federal government’s very newest energy-related coverage. The NPS might be essential and related, attracting vital weight within the figuring out the functions.
Drawing this collectively, the designation of the vitality NPSs means we now have robust, updated coverage, which helps photo voltaic growth, not only for utility scale tasks, but additionally for tasks beneath 50MW as a result of the NPS might be a fabric consideration for native planning authorities when figuring out functions for planning permission.
Key areas the NPS helps
Over the course of 2023, I’ve led 4 photo voltaic DCO examinations, while making ready different functions for submission. Trying again on these, there are two key areas the place the designation of the brand new NPS actually helps.
First, the classification of all low carbon infrastructure, which incorporates photo voltaic, as “important nationwide precedence infrastructure” (CNPI). This classification is the federal government’s response to the renewable trade name for the necessity for vitality infrastructure to be expressed within the strongest attainable phrases.
While the unique NPS made clear the pressing nationwide want for vitality infrastructure, in observe that appeared to get misplaced, or diluted, in examinations, the place the main focus was on native impacts. The presumption in favour of growth was nowhere to be seen, as planning inspectors engaged in months of debate regarding the smallest of impacts. This may be seen within the advice reviews they produced.
The advice was to refuse consent for a number of renewable vitality tasks, significantly these offshore, which left the Secretary of State in a tough place, having to fastidiously unpick the advice with a view to justify the grant of consent. The response in March 2023 was to categorise solely offshore wind as CNPI.
Nonetheless, authorities was requested why different applied sciences weren’t included, significantly photo voltaic, which is cheaper and sooner to deploy. Credit score to the federal government, it listened, and amended the NPS accordingly.
In examination, these against photo voltaic growth would argue that the adopted nationwide coverage assist didn’t embody photo voltaic, or if it did, then such assist was not particular to floor mounted tasks, however roof prime solely. Because the draft NPS advanced in favour of photo voltaic throughout final 12 months, the cry can be that authorities may and would change its thoughts about photo voltaic.
There will be little question now that ground-mounted and rooftop photo voltaic have the very best coverage assist in designed NPS. Furthermore, the coverage round CNPI creates the expectation that the necessity for it can outweigh native impacts within the planning steadiness. These impacts nonetheless must be correctly assessed and regarded, however the bar these have to go to outweigh want is way greater now.
Second, over the past couple of years, one couldn’t escape the general public debate round meals safety, lack of agricultural land and what ought to represent finest and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land. This featured within the 2022 Conservative Get together management hustings, a minimum of two parliamentary debates, and at one level it appeared as if the Division for Meals and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), was selling BMV associated coverage at odds with the positions taken by DESNZ and DLUHC.
The important thing level was whether or not land with 3b classification must be handled as BMV. If that’s the case, this might most definitely rule out the event of that land for photo voltaic and most different types of growth. Curiously, all through all that political noise, the coverage place remained the identical. Not one coverage doc modified.
Certainly, the September 2021 draft NPS included a brand new take a look at that when endeavor web site choice, agricultural land high quality just isn’t the predominating issue, quite grid connection, availability of renewable supply, and land availability might be key elements. That take a look at has remained all through the intervening interval and options within the designated NPS, alongside useful affirmation that BMV land contains grades 1, 2 and 3a solely, not 3b. That is very useful assist for the standard web site choice undertaken by photo voltaic builders.
Extra should be executed to streamline photo voltaic developments
Regardless of these key advantages of the brand new NPS, there stay areas of coverage to work on and enhance. The primary is a bug bear of mine – the Written Ministerial Assertion (WMS) of 2015.
Regardless of it by no means having been consulted on and never forming a part of coverage paperwork, the WMS stays extant coverage. The Power White Paper 2020, the British Power Safety Technique 2022, Powering up Britain 2023, the rising revised draft NPS in 2021 and 2023, and variations to the Nationwide Planning Coverage Framework, all made clear the necessity for photo voltaic within the vitality combine to attain safety of provide and internet zero.
But, the WMS has been allowed to trump these more moderen insurance policies in refusing planning permission for photo voltaic farms on brownfield land as a result of the onerous and unimaginable to attain compelling proof take a look at has been deemed not happy by native planning authorities.
The Planning Inspectorate has made a hash of this too, with some inspectors concluding the WMS has been outmoded and must be given little weight, while others have given it extra weight than more moderen nationwide insurance policies.
The designation of the brand new NPS will assist to resolve this coverage battle a level as a result of it’s the newest nationwide planning coverage place and doesn’t include the onerous take a look at of the WMS. Certainly, the brand new take a look at about land high quality not being the predominating issue, counters the compelling proof requirement.
Nonetheless, to kind this out as soon as and for all, DLUHC must formally withdraw the WMS. For my part it ought to so directly, as a result of in any other case the WMS will solely serve to undermine the robust coverage assist photo voltaic now has within the NPS. The pickled coverage should go!
In conclusion, the brand new designated vitality NPS might be a terrific assist to photo voltaic growth above and beneath 50MW in England & Wales. They need to resolve coverage battle, make the preparation and examination of DCO functions extra environment friendly, and in the end enhance the prospects of consent being granted.
After a protracted, 13-year wait, we now have nationwide stage, expertise particular coverage assist for photo voltaic. It will expedite the deployment of photo voltaic in the direction of the 70GW expectation within the British Power Safety Technique and now strengthened within the NPS as a goal.
This can be a shortened model of Gareth Phillips’ contributed weblog. The total model will characteristic in our writer Photo voltaic Media’s upcoming PV Tech Energy 38 journal in February.
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