Following a series of government announcements regarding infrastructure, including the UK Solar Road Map and Industrial Strategy, the Onshore Wind Strategy marks the government’s latest increment.
Chris Calvert is planning director at Pegasus Group
The fundamental point the government is pushing is “radical action to unlock 27-29GW of onshore wind by 2030 across Great Britain”, with England contributing around 2GW by 2030. The government has outlined a concise focus for development in its 42 action points, while facilitating a degree of flexibility for developers.
Enhancing Onshore Wind planning
Out of the myriad themes and actions in the Onshore Wind Strategy, there are some key points set to have a lasting impact on infrastructure planning, with ambitious reforms aiming to streamline the system for planning consent. Updates to the National Policy Statements for Energy Infrastructure (NPS) and the Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) are long overdue. The last onshore wind NPS dates back to 2011, and the PPG regarding onshore wind has not been substantially updated since 2015. Yet technology has advanced significantly, with modern wind turbines often double the size of their predecessors.
The government has therefore laid out a new timeline for onshore wind in the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime, pledging an updated NPS by the end of 2025. A revised PPG will follow in autumn 2025, with a full alignment of planning guidance in spring 2026. This represents a significant opportunity to streamline processes, mitigate ambiguity and ensure decisions are informed by contemporary evidence. However, questions persist over the “localised effect” of onshore wind and further guidance is still needed on the role that spatial guidance might play in development.
The government is supplementing this planning reform by addressing site selection, recognising the “mature approach” to data infrastructure developers are taking and considering a range of selection criteria, but acknowledging that local authorities are lagging behind. The strategy seeks to address this with a prototype data tool, combining industry data with all other relevant information.
Ideally, this level playing field will assist in the decision-making process. However, it remains to be seen how this will align with the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP), considering the Plan is already intended to identify “the optimal locations, quantities and types of energy infrastructure” required for onshore wind.
NSIP implementation and operation
As part of the reversal of the effective ban on onshore wind farm development, onshore wind will be reintroduced into the NSIP regime with a threshold of 100MW, due to come into force on 31 December 2025.
The reintroduction brings welcome consistency, with onshore wind recognised as a key component of the UK’s 2030 Net Zero ambitions. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is also set to give the secretary of state the power to disapply the requirement for a project to be “nationally significant” in order to seek consent under the NSIP regime, providing further flexibility for developers.
Yet, the effectiveness of the revised NSIP regime is not guaranteed and further guidance from the government is needed, striking a balance between avoiding over-prescription and providing a proportionate and workable framework, while noting the government’s target of granting 150 development consent orders (DCOs) by the end of this Parliament.
The government has also provided a clear position regarding longer operational timelines, specifically that wind farms can and should operate well in excess of the typical 25 years. This comfortably sits alongside the NPPF’s emphasis on the repowering and life extension of wind farms, with multiple examples of increased operational times, by up to 15 years in some cases.
The NPPG is set to be updated, providing more information to developers and planning authorities for repowering and life extension schemes. Consents granted under the Town and Country Planning Act currently require development within three years, but the strategy acknowledges the practical constraints of this rule. Intended to prevent speculative applications, the rule has become an obstacle for many developers, with grid connection uncertainty often causing delays that prevent projects from breaking ground within the prescribed timeframe.
Addressing hidden obstacles
The comprehensive nature of the Strategy has equipped a number of problem areas with greater guidance but not necessarily certainty. For example, the government has delivered on more guidance in respect of community benefits, but that these are “to be expected” and not a mandatory element of a proposal. Meanwhile, there has also been the publication of updated good practice guidance for community engagement. Onshore wind, like most forms of renewable energy, has always undertaken extensive consultation, beyond many other developments, but making community benefits mandatory signals potential clarity for a grey area.
Similarly, the Strategy seeks to aid the transparency of environmental impact assessments in regard to site selection and by the end of the year we will have more details on the procedures underlying Environmental Outcome Reports. The Nature Restoration Fund is also expected to be brought in as part of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill to this end.
Even though greater clarity has been given, this is not without controversy. One of the more disputed proposals refers to small-scale onshore wind and changes to permitted development rights and the Government has announced plans to launch a consultation exploring whether current rules remain fit for purpose.
Whilst worth exploring, it’s an area that may prove difficult. The inherent challenge lies in how larger turbines could be permitted development, when considering the cumulative environmental, landscape, aviation and noise impact. Any revised regulations would likely require assessment not dissimilar to a planning application, diminishing the value of permitted development anyway. The consultation will need to address this tension and set parameters for what constitutes sufficiently low impact to be permitted development, while being mindful of triggers for Environmental Impact Assessments.
The Onshore Wind Strategy marks a remarkable shift in tone and approach to onshore wind in England, making the UK a more appealing opportunity to build and invest. If the UK hopes to hit net zero targets over the next five years, onshore wind output must double, and while many of the reforms will take time to implement, today’s announcement sets the stage for a more coherent, flexible and modernised planning regime.
- Chris Calvert is planning director at Pegasus Group
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