Planning matters

A revised version of the NPPF, the “National Planning Policy Framework”, was published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government in December 2024, in response to proposed reforms and following an extensive consultation process that ran between July 2024 and September 2024. This article explores the implications of the Government’s responses to the NPPF consultation[1] on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), specifically onshore wind and solar projects.

One of the most significant outcomes of the consultation is that the Government is reintroducing onshore wind projects into the centralised NSIP system. Onshore wind projects were removed from the NSIP system in 2015. This reintroduction of onshore wind follows the Government’s Policy Statement on Onshore Wind, published on 8 July 2024, which committed to “double onshore wind energy by 2025”[2], and removed policy tests from onshore wind applications[3] so that they can be treated the same as other energy development proposals to ease and expedite their development. This shift has marked a pivotal change in Government thinking - the former Conservative government created policy tests that made it almost impossible for onshore wind projects to gain permission[4], whereas the current Labour Government is relying on onshore wind to meet its clean energy policy targets, to deliver the Government's Clean Power Mission “to tackle the climate crisis”[5]

The Government has outlined in its consultation response that it will raise the threshold for eligible onshore wind projects to those that generate at least 100MW of power. This will allow medium-sized projects under 100MW to progress using the regular local planning route under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA), rather than the centralised NSIP system. This approach will serve to garner support from those in the renewable energy industry, less enthusiastic about the centralised NSIP process who perceive it as more expensive and lengthier than the local planning process (noting that in the response to the Government’s consultation, the sector was broadly evenly split between those advocating the DCO process and those opposed).

The Government explains that the principal aim of the reintroduction of onshore wind into the NSIP process is to create a more even playing field for large-scale onshore wind projects and accord them the same importance as large-scale offshore wind and nuclear projects. The inclusion of large-scale onshore wind projects into the NSIP regime demonstrates the Government’s continued reliance and commitment to the Development Consent Order (DCO) process as the principal mechanism to deliver the nation’s largest projects. We would argue that this approach is rational – despite the challenges presented by the DCO process including time and expense, it seems appropriate that large-scale NSIP schemes with wide-reaching impacts should be considered against national criteria as set out within Government policy statements, with the Government as the key decision-maker. Those in the sector that are wary of the DCO process may well be those who have yet to experience first-hand how it works.

For solar power projects, the threshold for inclusion in the centralised NSIP planning system will be increased to a generation capacity of at least 100MW, an increase from the current threshold of 50MW. This reflects advances in solar power technology since 2008 when the original threshold was set, as solar power schemes have since increased in energy generating capacity. It is also important to note that the threshold being set for solar, at 100MW, is still less than the 150MW threshold that the Government originally proposed in its consultation. The change in threshold means that medium-sized solar projects at the current threshold of 50MW are no longer required to go through the NSIP process, and can progress through the local planning system. Many solar farm proposals have already been ‘avoiding’ the DCO process through the submission of applications for 49.9MW[6]perhaps again reflecting the lack of first-hand experience with DCOs – these parties are likely to welcome this shift upwards of the threshold.

The Government plans to introduce the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in Spring 2025 which will implement the above changes in legalisation. A transitional window will operate until the end of 2025 when the legislative changes will formally come into effect. This is to provide the industry with sufficient time to prepare and provide greater flexibility for projects that are still in the planning process, as well as incentivise medium-sized projects (especially solar power) to commence development. The transitional window does not rule out requests made by developers for projects to be included in the NSIP regime under Section 35 of the Planning Act 2008, i.e. the ability to ‘opt in’ to the DCO process, through the submission of a request to the Secretary of State.

The inclusion of large-scale onshore wind projects in the DCO process will potentially provide greater certainty on planning timelines for developers and other relevant stakeholders. Meanwhile, medium-sized solar power and onshore wind projects may progress at increased speed through the planning system under the local rather than centralised system, no doubt with more regard to the Government’s priority for solar energy.

The Government has acknowledged that the NSIP system will require increased resourcing to effectively process an increased number of onshore wind planning applications[7]. However, whether these changes result in a tranche of 99.9MW  proposals remains to be seen, noting that it may well be difficult to convince promoters of the virtue of the NSIP consenting process, who do not share the Government’s enthusiasm for DCOs. Overall, the changes associated with the new NPPF reassert the Government’s commitment to both onshore wind and solar power projects, and the inclusion of onshore wind in the NSIP regime signifies a continued reliance on the DCO process for large-scale infrastructure developments. Regarding the industry’s response to the changes, we can expect more applications to be submitted under the local planning system for solar power and onshore wind schemes, which may lead to longer timescales than originally anticipated due to increased local authority caseloads. It will be interesting to see how many solar and onshore wind schemes that would otherwise exceed the 100MW threshold choose to avoid the DCO process (following the example of the plethora of 49.9MW solar farm schemes), and how this might impact upon the Government’s ambitions for the renewable energy sector.