The Government has published ‘Powering Up Britain’ and its supporting documents ‘Powering Up Britain – Energy Security Plan’ and ‘Powering Up Britain – The Net Zero Growth Plan’. Focussed on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, the reports have implications for the wider planning system too. The documents are “the Government’s blueprint for the future of energy in this country”.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/powering-up-britain
‘Powering Up Britain’ talks of “radically increasing electricity generation from renewables like wind and solar” and “speeding up planning”. The mainstay of wind generation is planned to come from offshore wind, but onshore is covered too. Solar is covered by both building and ground mounted approaches. The report continues to extoll the Government’s policy and financial support for electric vehicle roll out.
The ‘Net Zero Growth Plan’ says that “the planning system is central to delivering our ambitious programme of net zero infrastructure development and building out the clean generation and grid capacity that will power our economy” and that “an effective planning system is needed to support both large scale nationally significant infrastructure like offshore wind, nuclear power and carbon capture, and support local decisions on renewable and low carbon energy”. The Plan identifies “For four net zero sectors – heat and buildings, electric vehicles, wind, and new and advanced nuclear power”. The Plan is clear that “government is committed to ensuring faster, fairer and more effective planning regimes, including through changes to the NPPF – generally for local plan making and decisions – and the energy National Policy Statements – for nationally significant decisions”. Objectives include:
• Introducing a fast-track route and shorter statutory deadlines
• More strategic and outcomes-based approach to environmental requirements – a nod to the incoming Environmental Outcomes Reports (EORs replacing EIA, SEA and SA)
• Recognising that onshore wind is an efficient, cheap and widely supported technology, NPPF changes will deliver a more ‘localist approach’.
The Energy Security Plan is clear that “central to delivering this infrastructure is an efficient planning system”. For onshore wind, planning reforms include changes to the NPPF, and developing local partnerships for onshore wind with communities and local authorities, and, we assume, technology providers and developers. For solar, planning reforms include accelerating the deployment of rooftop solar through permitted development right changes and the new PD right for solar canopies. The document recognises that “Ground-mounted solar is one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation and is readily deployable at scale. The Government seeks large scale ground-mount solar deployment Powering Up Britain – Energy Security Plan 38 across the UK, looking for development mainly on brownfield, industrial and low and medium grade agricultural land. Solar and farming can be complementary, supporting each other financially, environmentally and through shared use of land. We consider that meeting energy security and climate change goals is urgent and of critical importance to the country, and that these goals can be achieved together with maintaining food security for the UK. We encourage deployment of solar technology that delivers environmental benefits, with consideration for ongoing food production or environmental improvement. The Government will therefore not be making changes to categories of agricultural land in ways that might constrain solar deployment”. Bioenergy is included with an obligation to publish the Biomass Strategy by the end of June 2023. 
Steven Bainbridge, Associate Director at Chapman Lily Planning, says that he is glad to see the strong commitment to renewable energy and some focus on non-nationally significant development. The main challenges will be on how the NPPF tackles its new ‘localist approach’ and, whilst the overt support for environmentally-led ground-mounted solar is welcomed, the lack of any changes to categories of agricultural land means we won’t see an easily publicly available distinction between Grades 3a and 3b land; the categories which sit either side of the ‘Best and Most Versatile’ land ‘barrier’ which the planning system concerns itself about. Planning applications for ground-mounted solar are going to need to evidence sites as being “low and medium grade agricultural land” and that “environmental benefits, food production or environmental improvement” are distinct outcomes (think EORs!).