The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
Committee welcomes the Government’s move to revise its
energy National Policy Statement (NPS) which will be used to
approve the construction of major energy infrastructure projects,
in a report published today (Friday).
The report follows the
BEIS Committee’s inquiry scrutinising the Government’s draft
energy NPS and whether the new Statement will support the
Government in its statutory target of reaching net zero emissions
by 2050, as stated in its Energy White Paper.
The NPS is a suite of documents that provide a legal framework
that the Secretary of State for BEIS must use when deciding
whether to approve the construction of ‘nationally significant’
energy infrastructure projects, such as offshore wind farms,
power stations, storage and network facilities.
The report finds that the NPS should explicitly give greater
weight to the “urgent” need to build new energy infrastructure
that will increase the supply of low-carbon energy in the UK’s
network. In its current form, the draft revised NPS does not
provide the "step change" needed to deliver the required scale of
new nationally significant infrastructure projects at a
sufficiently rapid pace to deliver the Government's net zero
aims.
The report also recommends the wording of the NPS provide the
Secretary of State with flexibility to consider and give consent
to new technologies such as hydrogen and carbon capture and
storage.
The report also recommends that the Government “reconsider” its
decision to remove onshore wind from the NPS. Onshore wind has
been identified as a key component in the transition to net zero.
, Chair of the BEIS
Committee, said:
“The Government has a huge amount of work to do in
partnership with industry to deliver the energy infrastructure
required to hit Net Zero. The revision of the energy National
Policy Statement is therefore welcome but more needs to be done
on how this work links to reform of the planning system and the
increased delivery of infrastructure across the UK.”
The Government’s energy NPS was first designated in 2011 and has
not been updated since. The Committee’s report recommends that
reviews should instead happen every five years. This would allow
the Government to “properly take into account the rapid pace of
technological change in the energy sector and the need for
significant progress towards meeting our Net Zero target,” the
report says.
The documents within the energy NPS that are currently being
revised include: EN-1 which is an overarching document setting
out the requirements for energy infrastructure; EN-2 relating to
fossil fuels; EN-3 relating to renewables; EN-4 for gas supply
and gas and oil pipelines; and EN-5 for electricity networks.
EN-6 relating to nuclear energy is not being revised and is
therefore not discussed in the Committee’s report.
ENDS
Editor’s Notes
- On 7 December 2021 the
Committee took oral evidence from expert witnesses including
Aled Rowlands, Head of Corporate Affairs, National Grid; Emma
Pinchbeck, Chief Executive, Energy UK; James Richardson, Chief
Economist, National Infrastructure Commission; Tania Davey,
Marine Planning Manager, The Wildlife Trusts.
On 18 January 2022 the
Committee took oral evidence from representatives of the National
Infrastructure Planning Association; , Minister for Business,
Energy and Clean Growth, BEIS Department; and MP, the former Minister
for Housing who has since become the Deputy Chief Whip.
- The draft revised energy National Policy Statements published
in September 2021 are available here.
- The Planning Act 2008 states that before the revised energy
NPS can be formally adopted by the Secretary of State for BEIS,
they must be subject to public consultation and parliamentary
scrutiny. The BEIS Committee was tasked with scrutinising the
draft energy NPS in September 2021 and the Committee launched its
inquiry in November.
- The BEIS Department’s 2020 Energy White Paper is available here.
- You can visit the BEIS Committee’s website here.
