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Ministers are considering weakening the rights of communities to object to new towers or wind farms in their neighborhoods as they race to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030.
The UK government is exploring reforming planning rules so that claimants can only apply for judicial reviews of large infrastructure projects once in a case. It wants to tackle the “obstructionists, delayers and obstructionists” who Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said stand in the way of reform.
The proposals are set out in a wide-ranging plan published on Friday on how to reach its official target of “clean” energy by 2030. The government envisages gas-fired power stations would provide less than 5 per cent of annual electricity generation, with the rest coming from low-cost sources. Carbon. This is compared to what is around it 30% of gas this year.
Miliband said the plan could only be met by “big, bold change” and that the government was “embarking on the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations”.
The clean energy goal will require the construction of new wind and solar farms, as well as the towers and cables needed to transmit electricity, including nearly 1,000 kilometers of land-based electricity grids.
But ministers are concerned that these projects could be derailed by local communities challenging the projects in the courts. Residents in many areas are protesting against plans for new towers, with concerns ranging from the environmental impact to the impact on house prices.
Opponents often apply for judicial reviews of projects that have been granted planning consent, meaning they can get a judge to review the process and potentially revoke the permission. In some cases, activists repeatedly filed applications against the same projects.
In its Clean Energy 2030 Action Plan, the government says there is justification for finding ways to “simplify” the process to ensure it does not “unjustifiably slow down the development of critical infrastructure”.
He adds: “For example, this could include changing the rules so that claimants in each case have only one attempt to obtain leave for judicial review.
“Any changes we decide to make will strike the right balance between reducing delays to infrastructure projects and maintaining access to justice in line with our domestic and international legal obligations.”
The proposals follow a review into the legal challenges facing large infrastructure projects, which was published by Lord Charles Banner KC in October. He recommended changes including “fewer bites for claimants seeking leave to conduct a judicial review”.
But any change is likely to be controversial given the strength of feeling in some communities.
The government's Clean Energy Action Plan broadly accepts recommendations made last month by the state-owned National Energy System Operator regarding technologies needed to reach the 2030 target.
It aims to install 43-50 GW of offshore wind capacity in 2030, up from about 15 GW now, in addition to about 27-29 GW of onshore wind and 45-47 GW of solar. He adds that this transition will require approximately £40 billion in energy investment annually.
To try to achieve these goals, ministers are preparing to hold a record auction of Renewable support contracts Next year. They are also considering changing the terms of support contracts to be longer than the current usual term of 15 years.
The move may be controversial as the contracts are funded through consumer energy bills. However, the government says longer contracts could lower overall project costs by reducing the risks faced by developers.
To try to boost domestic support for clean energy, the government says it will ensure that communities “directly benefit” from host infrastructure. This may include funding community schemes, as well as jobs and lower bills.
The Clean Energy Action Plan comes at the same time as a separate report from the government's spending watchdog highlighted the rural-urban divide in the rollout of electric vehicle charging points.
Only 15 per cent of public charging points in England are in rural areas, according to the National Audit Office. Its report called for “a greater focus on the location and accessibility of charging points.”
