Blitz Bureau
IN a major milestone to deliver on the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change which aims to drive economic growth and rebuild Britain with mission-driven government, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on December 13 launched a plan for achieving the target of clean power by 2030.
The plan will provide the foundation for the UK to build an energy system that can bring down bills for households and businesses for good.
The National Energy System Operator last month said reform of the system for connecting new projects to the grid, along with an overhaul to the planning process, would be needed for the target to be met. “Billions of pounds of clean energy projects have been held up by a clogged-up planning system, and a dysfunctional power grid queue that means renewables projects cannot get online,” the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said in a statement, Aacording to Reuters.
Under the new plans onshore wind projects over 100 megawatts will be placed under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime in England, making it easier for them to get planning consent.
It will also change the system for new projects to gain connection to the power grid by making sure slow-moving or stalled projects are removed from the queue to make room for viable ones. To spur investment in new renewable projects Britain holds annual auctions, inviting developers to bid for government-backed price guarantees for the electricity produced, called Contracts for Difference (CfDs).
Under the new plans announced on Friday the government said these auctions would be expanded to enable projects to get funding agreed before their planning permission has been finalised which it said would help more projects get built.
