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General information

Why we are consulting

The energy NPSs are designated under the Planning Act 2008 to provide guidance for decision-makers on the application of government policy when determining applications for development in relation to NSIPs. The current suite of energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) were updated by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in January 2024.

In July 2024 the government launched a review of the energy NPSs to ensure they reflected government鈥檚 energy priorities as set out in the Clean Power mission.

The government鈥檚 Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets out the pathway to a clean power system by 2030 and was published in December 2024, as was its response to a consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system. These documents establish pathways to ensuring by 2030 clean sources produce at least 95% of Great Britain鈥檚 energy generation, including through the re-introduction of onshore wind into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime.

Following review of energy NPSs EN-1 to EN-5, government has drafted updates to EN-1 (overarching energy NPS), EN-3 (renewable energy infrastructure) and EN-5 (electricity networks). Some material updates have been made to these three draft energy NPSs which require consultation. This consultation is targeted to those material changes in policy.

Other minor changes have been made to enhance clarity of the guidance; these are non-material changes which do not pertain to changes in policy.

Consultation details

Issued: 24 April 2025
Respond by: 29 May 2025

Enquiries to: energyNPS@energysecurity.gov.uk (please do not send consultation responses to this address, see below details on responding via Citizen Space)

Consultation reference: Planning for New Energy Infrastructure: Draft National Policy Statements for energy infrastructure

Audiences: The government wants to hear from members of the public, industry, non-governmental organisations and any other organisation or public body.

Territorial extent: The energy NPSs presented in this consultation have effect across England, Wales, adjacent territorial waters and the offshore Renewable Energy Zone (except any part in relation to which Scottish Ministers have functions).

Whilst the energy NPSs only have direct effect in Scotland in one regard (in relation to cross country pipelines between Scotland and England or Wales) energy policy is generally a matter reserved to UK Ministers and the documents may therefore be a relevant consideration in planning decisions in Scotland.

In Northern Ireland, planning consents for all nationally significant infrastructure projects, as well as most energy policy, are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive.

The territorial extent of each energy NPS is set out in Part 1 of each document.

Confidentiality and data protection

Information you provide in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be disclosed in accordance with UK legislation (the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential please tell us, but be aware that we cannot guarantee confidentiality in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not be regarded by us as a confidentiality request.

We will process your personal data in accordance with all applicable data protection laws. See our privacy policy.

We will summarise all responses and publish this summary on 伊人直播. The summary will include a list of names or organisations that responded, but not people鈥檚 personal names, addresses or other contact details.

How to respond

We are inviting responses to this Consultation via the online e-consultation platform, Citizen Space.

In this consultation, the government wants to hear from members of the public, industry, non-governmental organisations and any other organisation or public body. When responding, please state whether you are responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation. If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please make it clear who the organisation represents and, where applicable, how you assembled the views of members.

Your response will be most useful if it is framed in direct response to the questions posed, though further comments and evidence are also welcome. When considering responses to this consultation, the government will give greater weight to responses that are based on argument and evidence, rather than simple expressions of support or opposition.

Consultations receive a high-level of interest across many sectors. Using the online service greatly assists our analysis of the responses, enabling more efficient and effective consideration of the issues raised. Therefore, we strongly encourage responses via Citizen Space. Please contact us if you intend to respond using an alternative method.

Respond online at:

We advise that you do not send responses by post to the department at this time, as we may not be able to access them.

Quality assurance

This consultation has been carried out in accordance with the government鈥檚 consultation principles.

If you have any complaints about the way this consultation has been conducted, please email: bru@energysecurity.gov.uk.

Introduction

The energy NPSs are designated under the Planning Act 2008 to provide guidance for decision-makers on the application of government policy when determining applications for development in relation to NSIPs. Their function is to clearly state an established need for the infrastructure in question and how existing policy applies to development consent, removing discussion of the merits of government policy from the examination process so that decisions can be made based on planning considerations alone.

In July 2024 the Chancellor announced a review of the existing energy NPS to ensure they reflect current energy policy and enable a planning policy framework which can deliver investment in the infrastructure needed to achieve Clean Power by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050.

Since the announcement, the government has published the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, setting out how the government intends to expand low-carbon energy infrastructure to achieve energy security and at least 95% of generation in Great Britain being produced by clean sources by 2030. Government also consulted on the reintroduction of onshore wind into the NSIP regime, laying an affirmative Statutory Instrument in Parliament on 10 March 2025.

Several material changes have been made to the draft updated energy NPSs to reflect new policy, and we are now consulting on these before we can progress to publishing an updated suite of energy NPSs.

What are energy National Policy Statements?

The energy NPSs set out national energy policy and provide the foundations for decision making for NSIPs subject to an application for Development Consent under s104 of the Planning Act 2008.

EN-1 sets out the overarching need case and general assessment principles, whilst EN-2 to EN-6 set out technology specific assessment principles. In February 2025, the government also published a draft of EN-7, a new National Policy Statement for nuclear energy generation, for consultation.

Along with the energy NPS, there are two associated documents that consider the potential socio-economic and environmental impacts that infrastructure would have on the local area, and on Wales and Scotland. These are the Appraisal of Sustainability (AoS) and the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA).

Transitional arrangements

While the review is undertaken, the current suite of energy NPS remain relevant government policy and EN-1 to EN-5 have effect for the purposes of the Planning Act 2008.

The Secretary of State has decided that for any application accepted for examination before amending the energy NPSs, the current suite of energy NPS, published in 2024, should have effect. The amended energy NPSs will therefore only have effect in relation to those applications for development consent accepted for examination after the publication of the final amended energy NPSs. However, any emerging draft energy NPSs (or those amended but not having effect) are potentially capable of being important and relevant considerations in the decision-making process. The extent to which they are relevant is a matter for the relevant Secretary of State to consider within the framework of the Planning Act 2008 and with regard to the specific circumstances of each development consent order application.

Key policy areas and questions

Clean Power 2030

In the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, government committed to updating the NPSs for Energy in 2025 to reflect the needs of Clean Power 2030, improving policy certainty for developers and examining authorities. The policy narrative through EN-1 has been updated to bring Clean Power 2030 front and centre as the primary policy that the NPSs enable. It points towards the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, which contains the capacity ranges for technologies in 2030 that the NPSs support. Successfully delivering Clean Power 2030 will require rapid deployment of new clean energy capacity. Delivering Clean Power 2030 also paves the way to decarbonising the wider economy by 2050, and focussing the narrative around the planning system on it will enable us to meet those ranges by ensuring developers bring forward relevant projects.

Projects relevant for Clean Power 2030 can be deemed Critical National Priority (CNP), with a presumption in favour of consent. This means that Energy from Waste projects will no longer benefit from CNP policy as they do not meet the definition of a clean power technology in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.

CNP policy was introduced in the previous 2024 amendments to the NPSs. The policy allows for the importance of low-carbon infrastructure to be considered during the decision-making process by the Secretary of State. The policy means that for qualifying infrastructure projects, where residual impacts remain after the mitigation hierarchy has been applied, it is unlikely that consent will be refused on the basis of these residual impacts. The changes in the NPS are intended to bring forward higher quality applications to enable the planning system to operate more effectively.

Onshore Wind

Onshore wind is a mature, efficient and low-cost technology that plays an important role in the UK鈥檚 energy mix. The mass deployment of onshore wind farms is critical in meeting the government鈥檚 2030 clean power pathway. The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan estimates the need for 27-29 GW of operational onshore wind capacity by 2030.

It is vital developers use the most efficient planning route to seek consent for their energy projects so that we can make the UK a clean energy superpower. This is why, following consultation, government committed in December 2024 to reintroduce onshore wind into the NSIP regime at a threshold of 100MW.

Reintroducing onshore wind into the NSIP regime will ensure there is a level playing field with other generating technologies such as solar, offshore wind and nuclear. This will provide an appropriate route for large-scale projects seeking planning consent, where local impacts can be carefully balanced against the national benefits and meeting the UK鈥檚 wider decarbonisation goals. To support the assessment and determination of onshore projects entering the NSIP regime, government has included a new section within EN-3 addressing the impacts, considerations and other matters specific to onshore wind.

Offshore Wind

At the design stage for a proposed offshore wind farm, we propose in EN-3 that an assessment of inter-array wake effects is recommended to take place between applicants and those of consented and operational wind farms to inform and support the consideration of potential mitigations.

We propose that developers should make reasonable efforts to demonstrate that they have considered how to manage the impact of wake effects on other occupiers and set out non-exhaustive examples of what this could include.

It makes clear that potential approaches include explaining how the project configuration has been evolved during the design process to reduce the impact or avoid the most impactful configurations or manage the planned layout of an offshore wind turbine array to select layouts with reduced long-distance wake impact on other occupiers.

The aim of these inclusions is to provide greater clarity on how applicants can consider and potentially mitigate the impact of inter-array wake effects between new developments and nearby consented and operational wind farms, and how they could demonstrate their efforts to manage those effects, while still allowing for a variety of approaches depending on individual circumstances. The inclusions state that during the pre-application phase, an assessment of inter-array wake effects is recommended to take place between applicants and those of consented and operational offshore wind farms.

Electricity Networks Infrastructure

Great Britain鈥檚 electricity network needs a once in a generation expansion to deliver new homegrown, clean energy to homes and businesses up and down the country. The proposed changes will support this new infrastructure to be built faster, whilst maintaining a rigorous process to minimise costs and impacts.

Endorsement of the Centralised Strategic Network Plan

Taking a holistic approach to planning transmission infrastructure is crucial to meet the rise in demand for low carbon electricity to achieve energy security and the national net zero goal. Building on the work of the 鈥淧athway to 2030鈥� Holistic Network Design for offshore wind and 鈥淏eyond 2030鈥� reports, the Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP) will help reduce the overall impact of infrastructure by taking a coordinated view of both the onshore and offshore network. The CSNP will provide an independent, long-term approach out to 2050 on how the transmission network should develop to meet our energy security and decarbonisation goals. It will be delivered by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and regulated by Ofgem. The first CSNP will be delivered in 2027. Network plans will take account of environmental and community impacts, alongside deliverability, operability and economic cost, from the outset.

While the CSNP will address energy vectors such as natural gas and hydrogen, this consultation section relates to our proposed NPS amendment to endorse CSNP recommendations for electricity transmission infrastructure.

The CSNP process will provide a robust assessment of the possible options. Endorsement through the NPS would mean that the need case and technology type for projects that adhere to the recommendations of the CSNP do not have to be examined in the consenting process. The CSNP would establish the need case and technological solution; removing this from the consenting process could accelerate the pre-consenting stage and reduce project level risk.

Endorsement will include:

• The need case of reinforcements
• The strategic parameters of reinforcements: onshore / offshore, high voltage direct current (HVDC) or high voltage alternate current (HVAC), the spatial envelope - a defined area where options will be assessed, and how it connects to the Main Interconnected Transmission System.
• Change control requests that do not deviate from the CSNP Strategic Environment Assessment. In the event of new information, projects may submit a change control request for assessment by NESO. The proposal will be assessed against the strategic objectives of the CSNP. An approved change that aligns with the CSNP Strategic Environmental Assessment will be endorsed by the NPS.

Endorsement will not include:

• Indicative routing between recommended infrastructure: routing decisions will be confirmed during the Detailed Network Design process in accordance with appropriate surveys and consultation. As such, routes are subject to change and should not be considered fixed for planning purposes.

The proposed amendment upholds the existing starting presumption for overhead lines outside of nationally designated landscapes within EN-5.

The CSNP will be subject to statutory environmental assessments including a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA). 鈥疎ndorsement will become official once these assessments are complete and the CSNP is published on NESO鈥檚 website.

For generation infrastructure, the need case is already set out in the NPSs, but the upcoming Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) has also now been referenced.

Reference to the Electricity Transmission Design Principles

Transmission Owners (TOs) follow a sequential design process that allows them to meet their licence obligations and to comply with planning requirements, including those set out in the NPS, in particular the Holford and Horlock Rules.

The Clean Power Commissioner Nick Winser, in his former role as Electricity Networks Commissioner, was tasked in 2023 with identifying opportunities to accelerate the delivery of transmission infrastructure. He found that design guidance could be open to interpretation by different parties, could lead to differences arising in regulatory and planning approvals and could result in developers needing to create multiple route designs for re-approval. In addition, he concluded that there was a lack of clarity with regard to the design options for impact mitigation.

The Electricity Transmission Design Principles (ETDP) were recommended by the Clean Power Commissioner as a means of addressing this issue. The ETDP are intended to provide greater clarity on the type of asset to be used in different environments, to outline how the impact of transmission infrastructure on the environment, landscape and communities can be mitigated, and to set out flexibilities for route and technology design.

The ETDP will assist in improving mitigations and supporting alignment between planning and regulatory processes and provide clarity to communities about where there are choices and the rationale for the use of different types of assets in different environments.

The Clean Power Commissioner also recommended that the ETDP should be referenced within the NPS (England and Wales) and Scotland鈥檚 National Planning Framework.

NESO is leading the development of the ETDP with input from a working group comprising of DESNZ, PINS, MHCLG, Ofgem, TOs and the Devolved Administrations. NESO is also consulting stakeholders outside of this working group and intend to consult publicly on the draft principles in due course.

In anticipation of a public consultation and publication of the ETDP, we propose amending EN-5 to reference the ETDP, setting out that developers should have regard to the ETDP, as relevant, in addition to the Holford and Horlock rules. This will only apply once the final version of the ETDP is published and will only apply to projects at the strategic front-end stage of the design process or earlier.

Other comments

The government welcomes views on any other aspect of the draft energy NPSs or associated documents that the previous questions do not cover.

When considering responses to this consultation, the government will give greater weight to responses that are based on argument and evidence, rather than simple expressions of support or opposition.

Next steps

This consultation will close on 29 May 2025.

The government will consider responses it receives, before issuing a formal response and revised draft energy NPSs as necessary. Government will then proceed to laying the documents in parliament for approval.

Once formally approved (鈥渁mended鈥�) these energy NPSs would then be the primary consideration for the Secretary of State and Planning Inspectorate when it makes decisions on applications for development consent for nationally significant energy infrastructure projects.

Consultation questions

This consultation focuses on the consultation questions listed below. However, respondents are free to make other comments, and the government will consider these where appropriate. When considering responses to this consultation, the government will give greater weight to responses that are based on argument and evidence, rather than simple expressions of support or opposition.

Clean Power 2030

1. To what extent do you think the inclusion of Clean Power 2030 policy in EN-1 provides sufficient guidance for developers to bring forward relevant projects?

2. To what extent do you think the updates to the Critical National Priority policy help bring forward higher-quality applications?

Onshore Wind

3. Do you have comments or amendments on any aspects of the new guidance for onshore wind?

Offshore Wind

4. Do you have comments on any aspects of the updated guidance for offshore wind?

Electricity Networks Infrastructure

Endorsement of the Centralised Strategic Network Plan

5. Do you agree with the proposal in EN-5 to endorse the electricity transmission recommendations set out in the CSNP to accelerate consenting times and support the upgrade of the electricity grid?

6. Do you have any comments on the proposal?

Reference to the Electricity Transmission Design Principles

7. Do you agree with the proposal in EN-5 to reference the ETDP and to set out that developers should have regard to the ETDP, as relevant, in addition to the Holford and Horlock rules?

8. Do you have any comments on this proposal?

Other comments

9. Do you have any comments on any aspect of the draft energy NPSs or their associated documents not covered by the previous questions?