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Tue 11 Mar 2025
The government is planning to revamp the UK’s energy planning system so that grid connections for “the most important projects” are prioritised over the current “first come, first served” process.
In its manifesto, Labour set itself a lofty goal of entirely decarbonising the UK’s energy grid by 2030 – bringing forward the already-ambitious 2035 target. But for this to be achieved, green energy infrastructure needs to be installed at pace.
The current infrastructure is reaching its capacity and is unable to transport much more electricity without reinforcement. In the last decade, investment in renewable energy generation has exceeded investment in transmission capacity, resulting in bottlenecks in the electricity network.
A 2023 report from Centrica found that the queue for connecting new projects to the grid was massively oversubscribed, with some green energy projects taking up to a decade before they can be connected.
The new measures proposed include speeding up the construction of energy infrastructure, with targeted reforms to support planning decisions on at least 150 major projects this parliament.
The plan will see dozens of clean energy projects, including wind and solar power, jump to the front of the queue for grid connections so they are installed before the 2030 date to decarbonise the grid.
The landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be formally introduced to parliament this week and aims to prioritise new transmission infrastructure through a £200bn investment. Yesterday, the government said that those living near new pylons could receive £250 a year off their energy bills to prevent backlash against new pylons.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said: “Time and again blockers have been allowed to halt progress at every turn, which has weakened our energy security and left our country exposed to soaring energy bills for working people, families and businesses. This cannot and will not continue under my watch.
“Through our landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill we’re taking bold action to fix the broken planning system, paving the way for us to get Britain building more vital infrastructure so our children and grandchildren can grow up in a more energy secure world.”
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “The only way to get Britain off dependency on fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators is with clean homegrown power that we control.
“Every turbine, every solar panel, every cable we connect helps protect families and paves the way for a new era of clean energy for our country.”
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