AQW 12361/17-22

Mr Andrew Muir
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 30/12/2020
Answered On Date: 06/01/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail consultation undertaken and rationale for change in planning policy concerning Battery Energy Storage projects.

Answer:

My Department issued a Chief Planner’s Update (CPU7) on 16 December 2020, which clarified that, for the purposes of planning in Northern Ireland, the Department considers that electricity storage development (such as battery energy storage systems) falls within the meaning of an “electricity generating station”. This advice follows consultation with the Department for the Economy, who have advised that, for the purposes of their licensing/consenting regime, electricity storage systems are a form of generating station. It also takes account of the position of the Utility Regulator that electricity storage is a form of generating station under the terms of the Electricity (NI) Order 1992. The rationale is based on several factors including the operation of electricity storage systems; their classification in other jurisdictions; pre-existing Northern Ireland Legislation; and the legislative history of the Planning (Development Management) Regulations (NI) 2015 and consistency with the Electricity (NI) Order 1992.

The CPU 7 makes it clear that this is not a legislative or planning policy change.