UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH MARCH 2020 |
7
News
and introducing flexibility over the
application of budgets and capacity caps;
• Maintain the existing cap on phased
offshore wind projects at 1.5GW.
Community matters
Unveiling the proposals, BEIS secretary Alok
Sharma stressed the importance of keeping
the public onside. He said: "Ending our con-
tribution to climate change means making
the UK a world leader in renewable energy.
"We are determined to do that in a way continued overleaf
that works for everyone, listening to local
communities and giving them an effective
voice in decisions that affect them."
According to Matthew Clayton, managing
director of Thrive Renewables, there is now
an onus on local authorities across England
to "roll up their sleeves" and designate
suitable areas for onshore wind projects.
In 2015, the UK government transferred
consenting powers for onshore wind projects
of more than 50MW from the Planning
Inspectorate to local authorities.
It also introduced new guidelines, stipu-
lating that local authorities should only
grant permission to projects if they are
located within areas identified as suitable in
a local or neighbourhood plan and have the
backing of the affected communities.
There are different arrangements in Scot-
land and Wales, where they are set by the
devolved governments.
"For the last three or four years we've had
the dual challenge of no revenue certainty
Neither onshore wind nor
solar projects, as part of
the 'Pot 1' of technologies,
have been allowed to bid
for contracts for difference
since the first competitive
auction in 2015
