The planning process for new clean energy infrastructure in Scotland is to be modified under UK and Scottish government proposals to reform legislation that can delay new projects being built.
Working with the Scottish Government, the UK Government has launched a consultation on proposed changes that will make the system for considering large energy projects in Scotland more efficient.
The Government says the changes will also ensure that affected communities can have their say on proposals at the right time in the process.
It can currently take up to four years to approve large electricity infrastructure projects in Scotland under UK legislation that has been in place since 1989.
The Government wants to update the energy consents system in Scotland to support the rollout of new clean energy projects while also giving communities early and meaningful opportunities to be heard.
UK energy minister Michael Shanks said: “Scotland has huge potential to propel the UK towards our clean power by 2030 goal, with its natural resources, energy expertise and highly skilled workforce.
“Together with the Scottish Government, we are modernising outdated bureaucratic processes to make sure Scotland is firmly open for business as we build the UK’s clean energy future.
“This will help to accelerate new clean, homegrown energy – taking us a step closer to energy independence and protecting billpayers from the rollercoaster of volatile fossil fuel markets for good.”
Scotland’s acting net zero and energy secretary Gillian Martin said: “These long-awaited UK legislative reforms will help support Scotland realise our clean power ambitions, while providing investors with confidence that a more robust and efficient process is being applied.
“This will in turn support our net zero ambitions, enable economic growth and ensure our communities have an enhanced opportunity to be heard.”
The proposed reforms aim to provide developers and communities with an updated system when submitting plans for large clean energy projects.
The changes cover the entire process from pre-application to challenging decisions, tackling issues that have already been addressed in England and Wales under previous reforms.
The consultation will run for four weeks until November 26.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel