National Policy Statements

Alongside the headlines from last week’s Budget was the welcome news regarding Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) - the release of further drafts of the Energy National Policy Statements, and the confirmation that they will now be placed before Parliament for consideration before being formally designated.

 

The Energy NPSs are the fundamental policy which underpin the decision making on nationally significant energy infrastructure projects. However, with the current versions having been designated in 2011, they no longer reflect current technologies or the full implications of the climate crisis and drive to net zero, and new NPSs are therefore long overdue.

 

A key change in the new November 2023 drafts is the clear statement by the Government of the Critical National Priority for nationally significant low carbon infrastructure, reflecting the commitment to fully decarbonise the power system by 2035.

 

How will this affect decision making on energy NSIPs? The full detail is set out in the new draft EN-1, the overarching National Policy Statement on Energy, but in summary applicants will need to ensure their schemes do not give rise to adverse impacts on European designated habitats or marine conservation zones. Applicants must then ensure that residual impacts on specific matters including human health and safety, defence, irreplaceable habitats, offshore navigation, flooding or coastal erosion have been avoided.

 

However, EN-1 then makes clear that, if those aspects are addressed, there is a presumption of consent for new low carbon infrastructure NSIPs. The Government still expects applicants to demonstrate how they have, as far as possible avoided, reduced, mitigated or compensated for any other environmental impacts of their proposed developments, but EN-1 makes it clear that any remaining residual impacts are unlikely to outweigh the urgent need for new low carbon energy infrastructure, and that it would only be in the most exceptional circumstances that consent would be refused on the basis of other residual impacts.  

 

EN-1 then goes further by stating that, regard will be taken to the particular circumstances of any application, but that nationally significant low carbon infrastructure will have the starting point that it meets various other planning tests, including passing the very special circumstances test when in the Green Belt, the exceptional circumstances test when in nationally designated landscapes (like AONBs – now re-termed as “National Landscapes”), and when substantial harm to or loss of the significance of heritage assets requires circumstances to be exceptional or wholly exceptional.

 

This is a starting point with potentially wide-ranging implications for the areas where energy infrastructure could come forward with the assessment of new NISP applications.  So, it remains to be seen how MPs react when Parliament considers the new suite of draft energy NPSs. However, it is promising to see the approach being proposed through the draft NPSs to creating a policy framework to proactively deliver the new infrastructure and which will be so crucial in  delivering a resilient low carbon energy system in England and Wales.