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Advice to Pegasus Planning

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Enquiry

From
Pegasus Planning
Date advice given
24 January 2017
Enquiry type
Phone

Can solar farm applications in England and Scotland fall under the remit of the Planning Act 2008.

Advice given

Section 15 of the Planning Act 2008 as amended (the PA 2008) details the threshold at which a generating station project is defined as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). For onshore generating stations proposed within England or Wales, projects with a capacity of over 50MW will be considered as NSIPs. Onshore generating stations proposed within Scotland do not fall under the remit of the PA 2008.

Unfortunately, the term ‘capacity’ is not defined within the PA 2008. Two definitions are provided in relation to renewable energy production and electricity generation licensing within the Renewables Obligation Order 2009 (SI 2009/785), as follows: ‘Total Installed Capacity’ in relation to a generating station, means the maximum capacity at which the station could be operated for a sustained period without causing damage to it (assuming the source of power used by it to generate electricity was available to it without interruption); ‘Declared Net Capacity’ in relation to a generating station, means the maximum capacity at which the station could be operated for a sustained period without causing damage to it (assuming the source of power used by it to generate electricity was available to it without interruption) less the amount of electricity that is consumed by the plant; In the absence of any statutory definition or applicable case law, we consider that the term ‘capacity’ within section 15 of the PA 2008 refers to the ‘Total Installed Capacity’ as defined above. Please note however that the Planning Inspectorate is not able to provide legal advice on which applicants and others can rely, therefore applicants will need to ensure they have a robust argument to support their understanding of the capacity of their proposals.

The Planning Inspectorate offers a free service for applicants at the pre-application stage of the nationally significant infrastructure planning process. Please see the Prospectus found at the following link for further details: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/NSIP-prospectus_May2014.pdf

The Planning Inspectorate has published a series of advice notes which explain the process, including information on how to get involved. These are available at https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/legislation-and-advice/advice-notes/