A green future requires cleaner energy, says Claire Petricca-Riding. But how will the vision work alongside the policy framework to help provide a cleaner, safer and more sustainable world?
There have been numerous changes to the planning system in response to the current pandemic. Fortunately, the environmental agenda has not been ignored. There has been the planning white paper, George Eustice’s announcements on the Environment Bill and now the prime minister’s focus on the green recovery (or what he referred to as the Green Industrial Revolution) in his speech at the Conservative Party Conference – all of this ahead of COP26. The PM has proclaimed the UK can be the “Saudi Arabia of wind power” with a pledge of £160m to support offshore wind generation and the infrastructure which will be needed to bring forward an increase in generation capacity by 2030.
All this is evidence of the government’s position on “building back greener”. The UK aims to be both net zero and to derive half of its energy production from renewable energy sources by 2050. Given that over 70% of the emissions are from energy production and consumption, it is important that “Project Speed” includes a bit of green. The government must therefore tackle energy production if it is to meet its overarching targets.
Renewable energy
Common perceptions of renewable energy usually conjure up images of large wind turbines turning slowly either out at sea or closer to home, or solar panels in fields and on buildings. In reality it includes many different types of energy generation.
EU Directive 2009/28/EC defines renewable energy as energy from renewable non-fossil sources, namely wind, solar, aerothermal, geothermal, hydrothermal and ocean energy, hydropower, biomass, landfill gas, sewage treatment plant gas and biogases, each of which is then defined separately within the Directive.
Daily check-ins to the National Grid’s ESO app include these different types of energy production, together with nuclear and carbon forms of energy generation and provides data on what percentage of energy produced that day has zero carbon emissions. At the time of writing, this was 39%.
The data can be broken down by region and provides data on the maximum values – for example, the maximum total recorded for wind on 2 January 2020 was 17,129MW of energy produced by wind turbines. More importantly, however, it records the maximum number of hours without coal production – currently recorded at 1,630 hours, which ended on 16 June 2020. This time period was significant since it was the longest time that, as a country, we went without using coal since the Industrial Revolution. Even more encouraging is the fact that coal-produced energy is declining with the alternatives being on the increase.
Energy companies do seem to be racing to meet the rising demand for cleaner energy. A report by energy consultancy PX Group stated there were 269 planning applications for new wind, solar and bioenergy schemes in 2019 – a 75% increase from the amount three years ago – a four-year high.
Planning and renewable energy
Accepting that we have the will for change, can it be delivered? A key driver and obstacle to energy generation schemes is planning. Planning is devolved to each nation and in each there are different planning policies to deal with development at a local level.
The position is further complicated by the two-tier system for energy generation governed by the Electricity Act 1989 and the Planning Act 2008 and those to be determined at a local level with the local plan and Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (or equivalent) regime.
For schemes below 50MW, the local planning authority across all nations deals with applications that would usually be determined in accordance with local planning policy. For larger projects – those over 50MW – the position becomes complex. In Scotland, these are governed by section 36 of the 1989 Act and are dealt with by the Scottish government’s consents team. In England and Wales, these are governed by the 2008 and 1989 Acts and are dealt by the National Infrastructure Planning division of the Planning Inspectorate, which makes a recommendation to the secretary of state who makes the final decision. Discretion therefore lies with the minister if he wishes to approve or refuse permission, but some schemes can be decided under the local plan regime where appropriate. In Northern Ireland, schemes are decided by the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment.
Offshore projects are dealt with slightly differently, with the threshold for energy generation usually being higher. In Scotland, offshore schemes greater than 1MW are handled by the consents team under section 36 of the 1989 Act by the Scottish government.
In England and Wales, schemes greater than 1MW but less than or equal to 100MW are decided by the Marine Management Organisation under section 36 of the 1989 Act. Those greater than 100MW are handled by National Infrastructure Planning as set out above.
Further complications arise in that permission from the Crown Estate must be obtained for all offshore schemes out to the 12-nautical-mile limit, before planning can be approved.
All offshore schemes will also need to be granted licences by the Marine Management Organisation which will declare safety zones around these installations. This consults with the National Infrastructure Planning team.
We therefore have different organisations dealing with different applications and schemes. The type of scheme is irrelevant – if they are producing energy it will depend on the energy generation capacity for the scheme.
We also have overarching and differing policies dependent on location. The UK government sets national policy statements which have an overarching effect on policy set by the developed governments.
In this instance, there are two national policy statements: EN1 and EN3. These state:
“This NPS, together with EN-1, is the primary decision-making policy document for the IPC [Infrastructure Planning Commission] on nationally significant onshore renewable energy infrastructure projects in England and Wales and nationally significant offshore renewable energy projects in waters in or adjacent to England or Wales up to the seaward limits of the territorial sea or in the UK Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) (defined in Section 84 (4) of the Energy Act 2004), except any part of a REZ in relation to which Scottish ministers have functions.
• 1.5.2 It will remain possible for Welsh ministers to consent offshore wind farms in territorial waters adjacent to Wales under the Transport and Works Act 1992 if applicants apply to them rather than to the IPC.
• 1.5.3 In Scotland the IPC will not examine applications for nationally significant generating stations or electricity network infrastructure. However, energy policy is generally a matter reserved to UK ministers and this NPS may therefore be a relevant consideration in planning decisions in Scotland.
• 1.5.4 In Northern Ireland, planning consents for all energy infrastructure projects are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive, so the IPC will not examine applications for energy infrastructure in Northern Ireland.”
That clarifies the matter in respect of those overarching policies, but at a national devolved level the following policies are also to be taken into consideration:
- In Scotland further policy considerations as set out in The future of energy in Scotland: Scottish energy strategy paper.
- In Wales there is adherence to the Technical Advice Note 8 and its Energy Statement.
- In England there is the National Planning Policy Framework.
Reading the NPPF, it appears there is support for renewable energy schemes, but looking a little closer at footnote 49:
“Except for applications for the repowering of existing wind turbines, a proposed wind energy development involving one or more turbines should not be considered acceptable unless it is in an area identified as suitable for wind energy development in the development plan; and, following consultation, it can be demonstrated that the planning impacts identified by the affected local community have been fully addressed and the proposal has their backing.”
For the UK to be “the Saudi Arabia for wind power” will therefore mean a strategically different approach to planning policy and the removal of this highly detrimental footnote.
Such policies, especially EN1 and the NPPF need to be updated for there to be real progression in renewable energy generation.
Brexit and the future state
Given that energy generation and the subsidies which have been in place are set by national governments, the effect of Brexit on this sector is expected to be minimal.
A recent report by the World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/02/countries-behind-global-renewable-energy-growth), shows the growing dominance of China’s solar energy production together with Denmark’s achievement of 69% of renewable energy generation.
The UK has some way to go to be on par with the leading European countries of Denmark, Ireland, Spain and Germany, but progress is being made. The Energy Trends report published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy shows that renewables provided 45% of Great Britain’s electricity between April and June – up from 36% in Q2 2019.
It is also encouraging that investors and pension schemes are increasingly looking at green investments as a credible alternative to standard bricks and mortar investment. Additionally, large corporate organisations are looking at ways in which they can accelerate their own net zero plans. These will no doubt include more renewable energy schemes to power offices and manufacturing plants.
As governments, businesses, financiers and investors embrace a greener agenda, the demand for renewable energy continues to grow. The government needs to create the right framework to encourage this trend, so all can reap the benefits of a cleaner, safer and more sustainable world.
Claire Petricca-Riding is head of planning and environment at Irwin Mitchell
