Dozens of clean energy projects, including wind and solar, will jump before grid-connected queues to open a new era of clean electricity through the UK government’s change plan to achieve clean power by 2030.
The Landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill was officially introduced this week in Congress, laying the foundation for a new approach to prioritizing new transmission infrastructure.
This will unlock growth with a £200 million investment and protect households from roller coasters in the fossil fuel market.
A rapid clean energy project to prioritize growth
From solar farms to new factories, clean energy projects that are easily popular now face up to ten years of long connection waits due to an outdated connection process, creating uncertainty for communities and businesses, costing millions of pounds for taxpayers, and undermining the country’s energy security.
The flawed “first arrival” process will no longer be able to connect prior to speculative projects where viable infrastructure clogs the queue, replacing it with a “first-prepared, first-connection” system that prioritizes proper homemade clean power projects, prioritizing rapid connections to build energy systems that can reduce bills.
For decades, developers, energy companies, and businesses have been flooded with long processes and planning delays that serve as barriers to growth. Future bills will set out how the process of delivering critical infrastructure will be streamlined.
Decisions on land and offshore wind, solar, electric grids, hydrogen, carbon capture and nuclear power plants will be quickly tracked to accelerate growth, create thousands of new jobs, add billions to the UK economy, and provide more clean energy to people heat and power their homes.
Surge in energy security
These changes will not only roll back the planning delays to build the UK, but will also bring about a future of next generation, more prosperous energy safety.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: “Many times, blockers have been allowed to stop progress at every turn, which has weakened our energy security and left our country exposed to rising energy bills for workers, families and businesses.
“Through our groundbreaking planning and infrastructure bills, we are taking bold steps to fix our broken planning system. We are paving the way for us to build more critical infrastructure and help our children and grandchildren grow in a more energy-secure world.”
The new measures will speed up the approval process for critical infrastructure projects nationwide by reducing the burden of consultations and strengthening guidance to experts and local governments about their role in the process, and update national policy statements at least every five years to reflect government priorities in the provision of infrastructure.
Which energy projects receive funding?
The government has pledged to make planning decisions in this parliament for at least 150 major clean energy projects, including wind, solar and hydrogen.
The government has agreed to 10 cases so far, including several energy projects such as six solar farms, equivalent to the country’s new clean energy of around 3GW.
A set of target reforms to accelerate growth and speed up the government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan will be introduced in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. These include:
People living within 500 meters of the new pylon will receive a discount on power bills of up to £2,500 over a decade, and will help those hosting critical grid infrastructure benefit by supporting the government’s mission to clean up power by the end of the decade. It directs GEM to provide a “cap and floor” scheme, lifts billions of pounds in long-term power storage (LDES), preserves renewable power and provides its first major project in 40 years. Street Works licenses accelerate the deployment of electric vehicle charge points, making them easier to install on public roads and streets, faster, easier and cheaper. Changes to outdated planning rules for Scotland’s new clean power infrastructure, such as onshore wind farms and pylons, reduces excessive and expensive delays in the process while ensuring local voices are heard in applications. The extension to the GCC for generators is an extension of 18 to 27 months, reducing the number of offshore wind farms that require exemptions when applying for licenses to onshore cables and substations.
Source link
