Ministers Granted Authority to Approve Large-Scale Onshore Wind Projects

The UK government unveiled the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and a related paper outlining when renewables projects will qualify as ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’ (NSIPs). Notably, the government lowered the minimum generation capacity for solar projects to 100MW, down from the initially proposed 150MW, and confirmed that onshore wind projects would also fall under the NSIP regime at the same 100MW threshold.

These changes officially end the de facto ban on onshore wind projects, which has been in place since 2015. However, the reforms will require legislative updates to the Planning Act 2008, expected in spring 2025. Transitional arrangements will be set for projects already in pre-application stages until the end of 2025.

To proceed, NSIPs must secure a development consent order from the secretary of state. Updated National Policy Statements (NPSs) guide this process, specifying requirements for different energy technologies. The government plans to revise these statements further in 2025 as part of its clean power 2030 action plan.

Phillips welcomed the removal of barriers for onshore wind development but cautioned against expecting a significant surge in NSIP applications. Projects under the 100MW threshold will still be subject to decisions made by local planning authority (LPA) governed by the NPPF. While the NPPF encourages LPAs to support renewable and low-carbon infrastructure, it stops short of mandating them to allocate specific sites for such developments in local plans.

Although some in the renewables industry argue that the NPPF could have gone further in promoting clean energy, Phillips views the reforms as a positive step toward encouraging the development of low-carbon projects. This updated planning framework offers developers greater clarity and flexibility, fostering hope for a more streamlined approach to renewable energy infrastructure.

“The change in threshold could mean we see more planning applications for solar projects up to 100MW, which arguably have fallen in the planning ‘dead zone’ previously because it was not cost-effective to promote them under the NSIP regime,” Phillips said.

“Whether those planning applications achieve consent from local planning authorities has been the subject of much debate. Given many LPAs have found it politically difficult to grant planning permission for solar projects around 49MW due to constituents’ concerns over the landscape and, visual impact and loss of agricultural land, they may well struggle to consent projects up to twice that size and capacity. If so, we will see more planning appeals for that scale of solar project.”

“The good news is that other changes to the NPPF have removed potential ‘blockers’ to solar projects; have not introduced new or more onerous policy tests in relation to best and most versatile agricultural land; and require the ‘planning system’, which includes LPAs, to ‘support renewable and low carbon energy and associated infrastructure’. This is all positive and brings the NPPF more closely aligned with the NPSs for energy designated in January 2024,” he said.

However, Phillips added: “Even with the positive changes to the NPPF, when promoting solar and onshore wind under 100MW capacity, I expect developers to have more success on appeal than with LPAs.”