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Advice to West Devon Borough Council

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Enquiry

From
West Devon Borough Council
Date advice given
13 March 2020
Enquiry type
Email

Dear Sir/Madam, We have had an EIA Screening Request relating to the addition of a 50MW black start facility to an existing 900MW gas fired power station. Given the scale of the project, could you advise whether this is something that the National Infrastructure Planning Unit would deal with please? Kind regards,

Advice given

Dear Ms Hanlon Under section 14(1) of the Planning Act 2008, as amended (PA 2008), the construction or extension of a generating station is defined as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (‘NSIP’). Section 15(2) of PA2008 provides that the construction or extension of an onshore generating station in England is within section 14(1)(a) only if the generating station is, or (when constructed or extended) does not generate electricity from wind; and its capacity is more than 50 megawatts. The project would therefore appear to fall under PA2008 however the Council will need to satisfy itself, taking its own legal advice if appropriate, as to whether or not any proposal submitted to it can be considered and determined by the local planning authority under any regime other than the development consent regime provided for by PA2008. It should be noted that, under Section 160 of PA2008, it is an offence if a “person carries out, or causes to be carried out, development for which development consent is required at a time when no development consent is in force in respect of the development”. If the Council are minded to conclude that the project is an NSIP, you need to explain to the Applicant why you consider this proposal to be an NSIP and suggest the Applicant contact the Inspectorate to discuss the NSIP process. Please note that the Inspectorate has a statutory duty to record and make publicly available any advice given under s51 of the PA 2008. If you wish to seek any further advice in relation to the NSIP planning regime and these proposals, please contact us at this email address. Regards