Electricity Infrastructure Consenting in Scotland

Overview

The UK Government believes that Scotland’s growing renewable electricity sector requires a robust, timely and proportionate consenting process which meaningfully involves communities and relevant planning authorities in decision-making. The Scottish Government grants consents to electricity infrastructure – both generating stations over 50MW (1 MW for generating stations 0-12 nautical miles from shore) and network projects - under the Electricity Act 1989. The UK and Scottish governments agree that modernising and removing inefficiencies within the Electricity Act 1989, is the best route to speeding up infrastructure deployment, which is vital to achieving clean power by 2030. It is also agreed that requirements for applicants to involve communities and statutory consultees through pre-application and application processes should be strengthened, to build a fairer consenting system and develop better quality applications for consent.

This consultation sets out a package of proposals for reform which span the consenting journey. The purpose of the consultation is to test these proposals with a wide group of stakeholders ranging from communities hosting infrastructure to applicants for consent. This will help us understand the impacts proposals will have across stakeholder groups and be used to shape the development of policy proposals.   

What happens next

Responses to the consultation will inform the steps that need to be taken next to address the challenges outlined in the consultation. The intention is for reforms to be implemented mainly through amendments to the Electricity Act 1989, when Parliamentary time allows. The UK Government will publish an official response to the consultation in due course.