Source · Select Committees · Energy Security and Net Zero Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Accepted
Strongly encourage innovative strategies within CNP planning policy to reduce environmental impacts.
Conclusion
National planning policy for CNP infrastructure should strongly encourage innovative strategies to reduce environmental impacts and, where appropriate, adjustments to site boundaries, layouts or the volume of electricity generation in specific areas for this purpose. (Conclusion, Paragraph 69)
Government Response Summary
The government has amended EN-1, paragraph 4.2.24, to clarify that the policy's focus is not solely on maximising generation capacity and allows for small reductions in capacity when mitigation measures have significant environmental benefits.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Government response to Recommendations 24 and 26. We have amended the wording in EN-1, paragraph 4.2.24, which now reads as follows: “Measures that result in a significant reduction in generation capacity for CNP infrastructure are unlikely to be considered to be appropriate as mitigation. There may be exceptional circumstances where the mitigation could have a significant benefit and warrant a small reduction in generation capacity and function. In these circumstances, the Secretary of State may decide that the benefits of the mitigation to reduce the effects outweigh the marginal loss of function.” We have amended the wording in EN-1 to make it clear that the focus of Critical National Priority policy is not to maximise generating capacity at the expense of important considerations regarding impacts on the environment. Replacing “material reduction” with “significant reduction” makes it clearer that small scale reductions in generation capacity can be appropriate if they achieve mitigation that has a significant benefit on the receptor being impacted. We have bolstered this change with the new sentence that follows, which aligns with text in EN-1 Section 5.5 (Civil and Military Aviation and Defence Interests) and Section 5.10 (Landscape and Visual) on circumstances where it may be considered acceptable to reduce the function of a proposed development in order to mitigate for an impact.