By Chris Calvert, Executive Director – Planning at Pegasus Group.
Summary: England’s updated NPPF aligns the planning system directly with net-zero targets, reversing years of restrictions on onshore wind. Combined with infrastructure speed-ups and regional devolution, the new framework gives energy developers a faster, far more flexible route to planning approval.
Key takeaways:
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Substantial weight for renewables: NPPF now requires “substantial” (not just significant) weight for renewable/low-carbon schemes.
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No need to prove need: Policy W3 confirms developers don’t have to demonstrate overall need for renewable energy.
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Local plans trumped by national policy: Out-of-date or conflicting local plan policies carry limited weight against national energy strategy.
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Repowering gets priority: Life-extension and repowering of existing renewable sites now attract substantial weight.
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Beyond NPPF, faster NSIPs and new mayoral tier could speed up energy development: Mandatory pre-application consultation removed for NSIPs; mayors can now call in strategic applications under the 2026 Devolution Act.
The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has finally arrived, and with it a mix of considerable changes for renewable energy development in England, and the consolidation of well-trodden paths.
Overall, the NPPF is a substantial reset for TCPA applications. For the energy sector, the NPPF is now better aligned with the National Policy Statement (NPS) of EN-1 and EN-3 in particular. The NPPF also now sits alongside a suite of other updated energy-related policies and guidance. This includes Clean Power 2030, updated noise guidance for wind energy, and Historic England’s acknowledgement of the weight to be applied to the transition to a low carbon, net zero future.
When this is placed in the context of increased devolution and changes to speed up Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP), there are many positives that should benefit developers, along with more guidance for decision makers.
Overall, the most significant reform to celebrate here is that the new NPPF is built with the UK’s energy secure and clean energy ambitions in mind. This continues the stark shift away from most of the last decade, during which onshore wind was effectively banned under a de facto policy that mandated local support before applications could even be considered.
Such policy approaches seem far behind us now. The intervening period, though, has created a patchwork of inconsistent local plan policies that have often failed to keep pace with technological advances within a very dynamic energy sector. The push for new local plans will be led by clear national guidance and reduced weight to those policies that do not align with the NPPF
While the 2024 NPPF began to reverse some of the policy void, the newly published NPPF is a much bolder swing at speeding up energy projects. For energy developers, these are the key shifts to be aware of.
What are the key changes the NPPF makes to renewable energy projects?
- Substantial weight given to renewable and low-carbon energy schemes
While the previous NPPF directed decision-makers to give significant weight to the benefits of renewable and low-carbon energy, the new framework upgrades this to ‘substantial’ weight.
Although it sounds like semantics, that word change raises the bar for the planning benefits assessment. Given the potential for larger schemes especially, the direction for decision makers to consider substantial benefits against any harm (and in the context of local plan policies that are most likely out of date) should result in more planning consents granted.
- No need to demonstrate need
Applicants did not previously have to demonstrate overall need for renewable energy. The new Policy W3 in the NPPF continues this direction, which in the context of grid reform is particularly useful.
- Local plans contradicting with national energy policy may now carry limited weight
Amendments to Policy E1 now mean that greater emphasis should be placed on relevant national strategies and the need for flexibility in planning infrastructure like energy. This is a good change. Our team at Pegasus believes the strengthened focus on national strategies, combined with an explicit commitment to flexibility, will better enable the planning system to respond to evolving business needs.
- Renewable energy is not limited to ‘suitable areas’
The new NPPF has upheld the last update’s guidance that consent for renewables should not hinge on the project being located on sites that have already been identified as ‘suitable.’ Pegasus is of the view that sites for renewable energy should not be restricted to areas identified as suitable for energy development within the local plan.
The renewable energy industry has considerable expertise and experience in undertaking site selection, including for example identifying areas with access to grid connection capacity. This consideration is also important for re-powering and life-extension of existing sites located outside of areas that may be identified as ‘suitable for renewable energy’.
- Life-extension and re-powering of existing renewable energy sites now attract substantial weight
This is a particularly important provision because it adds weight to proposals that make use of existing infrastructure. It’s a big win considering the rising volume of onshore wind sites nearing the end of their original consents, where re-powering may occur with taller, more efficient turbines that are likely to start coming forward.
What outstanding concerns remain for energy developments post-NPPF?
On the whole, most of the NPPF’s changes paint a picture of a much more encouraging planning environment for renewable energy development than England has seen in many years. Energy developers can now look forward to a positive policy framework for their schemes, whilst decision makers have some clarity upon how to assess such schemes.
One remaining concern, however — which our team at Pegasus Group raised in response to the consultation draft — lies in some ambiguous wording.
There is a risk that government-set deployment targets, such as those in Clean Power 2030 and emerging strategic spatial energy plans, could be misread by local planning authorities as caps rather than floors. Authorities might refuse permissions where they deem that a technology target has already been met in their area. These targets should not be treated as limits on planning permissions, and we hope the accompanying Planning Practice Guidance will address this.
Outside of the NPPF, the Government’s changes to NSIP requirements could drastically speed up large-scale energy schemes
The government has removed mandatory pre-application consultation for NSIPs, which is a welcome and pragmatic reform. While early engagement with communities and stakeholders remains important, statutory consultation requirements have often added time and cost without consistently improving outcomes. Removing this requirement while keeping the option for voluntary engagement strikes a better balance.
For large-scale energy projects progressing through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process, the change could make a tangible difference. It removes a fixed step from an already lengthy consenting timeline and sends a clear signal that the government is serious about accelerating NSIP regime. This should improve programme certainty and strengthen investor confidence.
The bigger shift on the horizon is devolution
Looking even further ahead, the change with the most structural implications for energy planning is in the devolution landscape that is now emerging under a new Prime Minister.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 notably allows regional mayors to call in and determine planning applications of strategic importance. For energy, that raises questions for developers and landowners, like which schemes will fall within mayoral jurisdiction.
While it’s early days, the hopeful outcome is a more layered decision-making system, in which local authorities handle smaller schemes, while mayors own a tier of strategically important applications, and the Planning Inspectorate and Secretary of State retain NSIP-scale decisions through the DCO process. Much of the above, of course, will be subject to staff and resourcing shortages that continue to be a challenge across planning authorities.
This yields both risk and opportunity. Developers and landowners working on mid-scale energy projects may need to think differently about project strategy depending on the political priorities of the decision-maker they are dealing with. They need to consider whether the emerging mayoral tier offers a more favourable route than a local planning committee or a Planning Inspectorate appeal. The answer will depend on geography, scale, and the political character of the combined authority in question.
New guidance from Historic England fills a long-standing void
Another helpful change for the energy sector comes not from the NPPF but from Historic England. Updated advice notes from the body addresses a guidance lag that did not acknowledge the Governments aspirations toward a more energy secure and net zero future, assessed against often larger proposals that have the potential to be in-situ for longer.
Crucially, the guidance brings recognition to the larger scale of modern-day renewable energy projects. By acknowledging the need for and benefits of onshore wind, including repowering and solar farms, the guidance should prove instrumental in helping the UK meet its clean energy targets. Delivered in tandem with the Government’s objective to speed up the NSIP regime, the heritage-related updates will help decision-makers to make better-informed and quicker decisions.
At Pegasus, we welcome these changes: from our experience of working with large onshore wind developments, we recognise that this new guidance will help support the delivery of both TCPA and NSIP proposals.
Big change is coming to UK energy development, but it won’t be overnight
All these changes form a very welcome prospect for developers, landowners, and investors in the renewable and low-carbon energy space. Of course, decisions will always need to balance site-specific impacts against policy benefits, and nothing is ever a guarantee. But fundamentally, the NPPF is strong transition away from reliance on fragmented and outdated local plans, towards a more cohesive and unified national policy framework.
For developers, the big takeaway is that they will benefit from far more flexibility than they have seen in years when it comes to site selection, as well as improved prospects for bringing forward renewable energy projects that support the Government’s net zero ambitions.
While no policy is perfect, the direction of travel here is towards a planning system that no longer constrains what is now a very different energy landscape compared to a decade ago. The challenge for developers is no longer whether policy supports clean energy but how to make the best of their projects going forward.
If you would like to discuss how these changes affect your energy project, please get in touch with Chris Calvert, Executive Planning Director and Head of Energy & Infrastructure at Pegasus Group.
