2025 revisions to National Policy Statements

On 24 April 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) published a consultation on revisions to energy national policy statements (NPSs): EN-1 (overarching energy NPS), EN-3 (renewable energy infrastructure) and EN-5 (electricity networks) to strengthen its commitment to deliver more renewable energy infrastructure in England and Wales. Consultation on the material amendments to these draft NPSs will run from 25 April until 29 May 2025. My colleagues Letitia Mandra, Hermione Kemp and Zoe Birch delve into the detail of the changes relating to the Clean Power Action Plan 2030, onshore wind and grid and offshore wind below.

Clean Power Action Plan 2030

EN-1 has been updated to bring the Clean Power Action Plan 2030 into the section that previously covered Net Zero. The aim is to put the Plan in the foreground as the primary policy enabled by the NPSs.  For context, the Clean Power Action Plan, formed in December 2024, proposes that clean sources produce at least 95% of the UK’s generation by 2030. The capacity ranges to be filled, set by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, are 43-50GW for offshore wind, 27-29GW for onshore wind, and 45-47 GW for solar. 

The draft EN-1 statement brings projects relevant under the Clean Power Action Plan into the remit of Critical National Priority (CNP), which gives them a presumption in favour of consent. CNP policy, introduced in 2024, makes it unlikely that consent will be refused on the basis of residual impacts that remain after the mitigation hierarchy has been applied, allowing the Secretary of State to consider the importance of low-carbon infrastructure in the decision-making process. Notably, Energy from Waste facilities are now excluded from CNP as they do not meet the definition of clean power technology under the Clean Power Action Plan.  The Action Plan will also have to be considered by applicants to inform developments coming forward.

The draft EN-1 explores a range of paths to meeting the Action Plan, including the mass deployment of offshore wind, onshore wind and solar at a sharply accelerated scale and pace, with nuclear as a backbone, and low-carbon hydrogen likely to play an increasingly significant role. Aside from generation, the statement explores how wasted energy can be reduced, using low-carbon technology and energy efficiency measures, and how negative emissions can be balanced by Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies. Another path being explored is how business models can be developed to incentivise the deployment carbon capture.

Resilience and security are also goals of the Clean Power Action Plan. Furthermore, underlying the draft EN-1 statement is the need for a more flexible system that is more resilient in dealing with unexpected events and managing threats to national security. EN-1 identifies that severe weather events are expected to increase in intensity and frequency as a result of climate change. Unabated gas is identified as an important backup.

In the consultation, the government seeks responses to the extent the inclusion of Clean Power 2030 policy in the draft EN-1 provides sufficient guidance for developers, and whether the updates to CNP policy help bring forward higher-quality applications. 

The reintroduction of onshore wind and amendments to electricity networks infrastructure

The government has committed the reintroduction of onshore wind into the NSIP regime at a threshold of 100MW and consequential amendments to the transmission of electricity to enable the deployment of additional green energy sources.  The consultation proposes key amendments in relation to onshore wind energy generation and grid reforms to enable this.

Proposed amendments to EN-1 seek to bring onshore wind into the policy general guidance. Section 1.3 “Scope of the Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy” states that when the Infrastructure Planning (Onshore Wind and Solar Generation) Order 2025 takes effect, ‘this will include onshore wind and solar generating stations in England only where they generate more than 100MW’. The draft NPS is clear in that any onshore wind generating stations located in Wales, regardless of its generating capacity will still be decided by the relevant Welsh authority (the Wales Act 2017 devolved responsibility for development consent decisions in relation to all onshore wind generating stations in Wales). The policy statement reiterates that UK government published the DESNZ ‘Clean Power Capacity Range’ in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, including a range of possible installed capacities of 27 – 29GW of onshore wind.

The revised EN-1 emphasises the crucial role of electricity in the national decarbonisation and energy security and the need to prioritise holistically planned energy infrastructure. To that effect, the draft NPS provides that the Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP), delivered by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) will enable a long-term, holistically (a very used word in the new revised NPS) designed network plan.  This means that where a project is justified through a CSNP, when deciding on an application, the Secretary of State will take the need as having been established. The NPS takes the CSNP assessment of a strategic solution as the final word in terms of alternatives, with further detail being provided for each application in relation to routing and siting. In terms of onshore wind proposals, this could mean, but is not limited to, the choice of onshore overhead High Voltage Alternating Current lines. 

The new draft EN-3 provides detailed guidance on what onshore wind proposals should factor in and what would be taken into account when decisions are made.  The amendments include onshore with a capacity of 100MW as one of the types of nationally significant renewable energy generating stations. Again, this is only applicable in England. The draft NPS provides (paragraphs 2.4.13 and 14) that whilst onshore wind farms are typically at high lying exposed sites and unlikely to be affected by flooding, there is still an expectation that applications should set out how the layout has been designed to be resilient, in particular to increased storms. 

The draft NPS contains a new section reiterating the critical role of onshore wind energy in meeting the government’s Clean Power 2030 Mission. This section provides extensive guidance applicable to onshore wind proposals in relation to alternatives and site selection, technical considerations and design (such as micrositing, decommissioning and repowering), assessment of impacts, mitigations and guidance for the Secretary of State in relation to decision making.

One of the key proposals in the revised EN-5 is the introduction of Electricity Transmission Design Principles (ETDP). These principles will be developed by NESO and apply to onshore and offshore electricity transmission infrastructure and are intended to provide greater clarity on the type of asset to be used in different environments, how the impact of transmission infrastructure can be mitigated and will set out a level of flexibility for route and technology design.  Developers will be required to have regard to the ETDP, once published, in addition to the already applicable National Grid’s Holford and Horlock Rules. 

Offshore wind

The draft amendments to EN-3: National Policy Statement for renewable energy infrastructure have sought to clarify the applicability of section 2.8 (other offshore infrastructure) to wake effects and specific reference is now made in paragraphs 2.8.176, 2.8.232, 2.8.233, and 2.8.316. The added paragraphs recognise the increased attention to wake effects as a result of the increased deployment of offshore wind.  It suggests that at the design stage of a project there are clear merits for applicants in making an assessment of inter-array wake effects on nearby offshore wind generating stations that are planned, consented or operational.

The amendments make it clear that where an applicant has demonstrated that they have taken all reasonable steps to minimise as far as possible, and shown that they have made reasonable efforts to work collaboratively with those who may be impacted, then any residual wake effect is unlikely to carry more than limited weight against a project in the planning process. Additionally, EN-3 now explicitly states that there is no expectation that wake effects can be removed entirely, and that compensation agreements are not necessary to mitigate the impacts.  How to deal with wake effects has been playing out across multiple offshore wind farm development consent examinations over the past year, all with differing approaches and arguments as to the interpretation of EN-3. 

The Planning & Compulsory Purchase team at Burges Salmon has extensive experience in promoting energy schemes, so please do get in touch if you have any queries relating to the consultation or more widely in relation to consenting.