Planning hindering renewable energy progress

Commenting on the announcement by the Committee of Public Accounts that the Department of Energy and Climate Change needed a ’greater sense of urgency and purpose’ to meet renewable energy targets, Shirley Mathieson, renewable energy spokesperson at Saffery Champness says:

"While there is undoubtedly a strong determination by Government to meet the target of supplying 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity from renewable sources by the end of this year, and to meet future EU targets, it is apparent that the complexity of the organisations that deliver both funding and, in particular, planning approval for renewal energy projects, are the main causes for the delay.

"Additionally, the planning process is complicated by the many and varied public sector organisations involved in the consultation process, from heritage organisations, to landscape archaeology and wildlife groups. Inevitably these organisations take time to report and can delay the planning process considerably.

"Furthermore the decision by the Government to replace the Infrastructure Planning Commission with the proposed Major Infrastructure Unit is causing uncertainty with investors previously willing to commit to large-scale renewable projects. And there are now real concerns about the ability of ministers to make timely planning decisions.

"There is a backlog of major projects for wind, biomass and hydro, capable of delivering very significant levels of electricity that are awaiting decision, some of which have been outstanding for over 3-years.

"To meet the UK renewable energy and carbon emission targets, we urgently need planning consents to build new low-carbon energy sources, including wind, biomass, gas, nuclear and clean coal plants.

"A log-jam of planning applications for energy projects exists and there is still uncertainty about how the new Major Infrastructure Unit will work in practice. At present there appears to be no cohesion and indeed a lack of logic in the planning system, with some Local Authorities granting consents while others refuse comparable schemes in terms of scale and location. A more consistent and transparent approach is urgently required."