The UK’s prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has pledged to streamline the approval process of 150 major infrastructure projects as the government reiterates its commitment to clean power.
Revealing the government’s Plan for Change yesterday (5 December), Starmer said: “We will streamline the approval process in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Driving through that reform, I can announce another new target. Not just 1.5 million homes but also 150 major infrastructure projects, a milestone that will triple the number of decisions on national infrastructure compared with the last Parliament.”
The UK’s planning system has become a hot topic for debate regarding how it impacts the rollout of renewable energy generation projects, let alone other major economic infrastructure projects dotted around the country.
Indeed, regarding the country’s energy transition, one of the first moves the Labour government attempted to rectify was the decision times associated with nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) for solar PV.
Within a few weeks of entering office, the incoming government approved plans for 1.3GW of solar PV NSIPs, representing a stark policy shift away from the numerous delays the Conservative government imposed on such projects.
The need for a new planning framework caught the attention of the wider renewable energy industry in the UK. Trade body RenewableUK, countryside charity CPRE and sustainable business organisation Aldersgate Group have released the interim findings of their investigation into the UK’s onshore renewable energy planning system, and found that there are five major issues with the current NSIP regime.
These are the lack of strategic plans, joined-up policy and public engagement; resourcing challenges across the system; difficulties in efficiently sourcing adequate data; inherent uncertainties in the process that exacerbate other issues; and the need for complex trade-offs to balance conflicting interests.
Despite this, the NSIP process is regarded by industry as a “broadly positive experience” despite not being seen as a cost-effective means of pursuing a large-scale renewable energy generation project.
It is not known how Starmer and the Labour government aim to streamline this process, whether through a major reform or another framework change. Still, the government aims to do this to put the country on track to reach 95% clean power by 2030.
Government must act decisively to achieve its 150 project milestone
News of the government’s commitment to streamline 150 major infrastructure projects was met with mixed signals by the energy industry. Although the government’s commitment to achieving this is a positive for the sector, question marks have been raised as to how it will be achieved.
Sam Richards, CEO of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade highlighted that the government “must urgently get moving” to address key obstacles in the planning system.
“While setting a target for delivering planning permission for at least 150 major projects by the end of this parliament is welcome, ministers must urgently get moving on fixing the underlying issues that slow down building the new clean energy sources, labs, homes, and transport links,” Richards said.
“A major first step would be approving the projects that are currently sat on ministers’ desks. At its current rate of approving major projects the government is on track to give the green light to just 72 projects by the end of the parliament.”
Dr Kristian Niemietz, head of political economy at the free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, regards Starmer’s new policy as “another false dawn”, highlighting that these comments have been made by the government before without action.
“The government’s recognition of this is welcome, and the prime minister is right to point out that our planning system has not just left us short of homes but of key infrastructure too, including transport and energy,” Dr Niemietz said.
“But we have heard similar positive noises before. Such announcements have become the political equivalent of the New Year’s Resolution to stop smoking, go to the gym, and become fluent in French. Recognising that these things are desirable is the easy part. The challenge to prevent another false dawn is to stick to them in the face of adversity.”
Despite this, Starmer’s speech has some positives, especially in connection with the commitment to drive clean energy growth into the heart of the UK. Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), agrees with this and highlights some of the initiatives that will help the nation achieve this.
“The National Energy System Operator set out how the UK can reach clean power last month and before the new year, the government’s Mission Control is expected to set out more details of its plans – both should provide certainty to the energy industry and help secure more investment in our growing net zero economy,” Ralston stated.
