AQW 15042/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 19/02/2021
Answered On Date: 08/03/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure (i) for her assessement of whether the update provided by the Chief Planning Officer on 16 December 2020 represents a fundamental change in planning policy regarding Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) development; (ii) to detail her Department’s consultation process regarding this change in policy; (iii) how this new policy compares with policy in the Republic of Ireland and other regions of the United Kingdom; (iv) whether she has any concerns of Northern Ireland divergence given the all-island strategy for electricity; and (v) to detail the number of BESS development applications submitted to local government and called in by her Department in each of the last ten years.

Answer:

The Chief Planners Update no. 7 is not a legislative or policy change and is instead provided as clarification from my Department. The Update provides advice to councils and the wider planning system on the proper interpretation of planning legislation, namely the phrase ‘electricity generating station’. Since the advice did not constitute either a new legislative provision or new policy, it was not considered that public consultation was necessary.

In relation to the approaches in the GB and ROI for BESS planning applications, there are broad similarities across the various legislative provisions. However, there are some differences between the respective planning systems and applicable thresholds, which is to be expected given the differences between the jurisdictions.

Unfortunately at present there is not an all island strategy for electricity generation. I am not aware of any schemes called in by my Department for BESS developments.