Planning Supporting Statement - Partnerships for Renewables

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Louth Canal Wind Energy Development 4.2.3 Stern‟s key messages in relation to the need for stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions highlights the need to ensure that decisions to tackle the issue are taken now to stem the increase in global warming: “The world is already irrevocably committed to further climate changes, which will lead to adverse impacts in many areas. Global temperatures, and therefore the severity of impacts, will continue to rise unless the stock of greenhouse gases is stabilised. Urgent action is now required to prevent temperatures rising to even higher levels, lowering the risks of impacts that could otherwise seriously threaten lives and livelihoods worldwide.” 4 4.3 The UK Climate Change Programme and Energy White Paper 4.3.1 As a central element in meeting its Kyoto Agreements, where the UK committed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, principally Carbon Dioxide, by around 5.2% below their 1990 levels over the next decade the Government published its Climate Change Programme in 2000 (reviewed in March 2006 5 ). This sought to further reduce the UK‟s emissions of greenhouse gases to 20% below 1990 levels by 2010, exceeding the previous Kyoto target. In the longer term the programme recognised that much larger global cuts of over 60% would be required, reinforcing the benefits from taking early proactive action to reduce emissions. 4.3.2 The Government published the Energy White Paper in 2007. This set out the importance of energy to society and the economy and the need to consider energy in relation to tackling climate change and the importance of a secure, clean and affordable energy supply. This set out four policy goals in regards to energy which reinforced the need to cut CO 2 emissions by some 60% by about 2050, with 20% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The 2006 Energy Review, which preceded the White Paper, included a specific statement on renewables 6 : The White Paper states that: “Recognising the particular difficulties faced by renewables in securing planning consent, the Government is also: Underlining that applicants will no longer have to demonstrate either the overall need for renewable energy or for their particular proposal to be sited in a particular location” (paragraph 5.3.67, page 156).” 4.4 Energy, Climate Change and Planning and Energy Acts (2008) 4.4.1 The Energy Act 2008 implements the legislative aspects of the 2007 Energy White Paper. With regard to onshore wind, the Energy Act strengthens the renewables obligation to drive a greater and more rapid deployment of renewables in the UK, increasing the diversity of the UK‟s electricity mix. The renewables obligation is the current main mechanism for supporting large scale generation of renewable electricity. 4.4.2 The renewables obligation works by placing an obligation on licensed electricity suppliers to source a specified and annually increasing proportion of their electricity sales from renewable sources, or pay a penalty. Suppliers meet their obligations by presenting sufficient Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs). A ROC is issued for each megawatt hour (MWh) generated by onshore wind. 4 Stern Review, Chapter 8, Page 193 5 HM Government (2006) Climate Change the UK Programme 6 Department of Trade and Industry (2006) „Annex D: Renewables Statement of Need‟, The Energy Challenge March 2012 8 Planning Supporting Statement Copyright Partnerships for Renewables Development Co. Ltd 2012 ©
Louth Canal Wind Energy Development 4.4.3 Where suppliers do not have sufficient ROCs to meet their obligations, they must pay an equivalent amount into a fund, the proceeds of which are paid back on a pro-rated basis to those suppliers that have presented ROCs. The obligation in England and Wales for 2011/12 is 0.124 ROCs per MWh i.e. approximately 12% renewable electricity. From 1st April 2012 till the 31st March 2013 the obligation in England and Wales will be 0.124 ROCs per MWh. The ROCs per MWh is set to rise year on year. Alongside the Energy Act the Government has introduced further legislation including the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Planning and Energy Act 2008, which are intended to work collectively to enable the long term delivery of the UK‟s energy and climate change strategy. 4.4.4 The Climate Change Act creates a new approach to managing and responding to climate change by setting ambitious, legally binding targets of at least 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with specific reduction in CO2 emissions of at least 26% by 2020 against a 1990 baseline. The Planning and Energy Act enables local planning authorities to set their own energy use and energy efficiency requirements in their local plan policies. It is clear that one of the Government‟s key objectives, through the various 2008 Acts, is to maximise and speed up the delivery of renewable energy provision and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 4.5 The UK National Renewable Energy Action Plan 4.5.1 Under Article 4 of the European Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) the UK was required to submit a National Renewable Energy Action Plan, 2010 (NREAP). The NREAP sets out the trajectory and associated measures that will enable the UK to reach its target for 15% of energy consumption in 2020 to be from renewable sources. The „lead scenario‟ within this document indicates how the UK can meet this target and provides a view of the technology mix in 2020. However, this scenario does not represent a target for any particular sector or technology and it should not be seen as an upper limit to the UK‟s ambition for renewables deployment. The Action Plan highlights that: “The UK needs to radically increase its use of renewable energy.” 7 4.6 The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan and Renewable Energy Strategy 4.6.1 The Government published the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan and Renewable Energy Strategy in July 2009. A central element of the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan is the aspiration to generate approximately 30% of all energy through a renewable source by 2020, representing a five-fold increase on current production levels. The Renewable Energy Strategy was published in tandem with the Plan to explain how this will be achieved. Specifically, it explores how the country will meet its legally-binding target to ensure that 15% of its energy is produced from renewable sources by 2020. 4.6.2 The Strategy‟s lead scenario suggests that over 30% of electricity could be generated from renewables by 2020 (compared to 2.25% in 2008), of which approximately two-thirds are likely to be provided by wind turbines. Box 12 of the Renewable Energy Strategy advises that “wind power is currently one of the most developed and cost effective renewable electricity technologies. The UK has the largest potential wind resource in Europe.” 7 DECC, National Renewable Energy Action Plan, 2010 March 2012 9 Planning Supporting Statement Copyright Partnerships for Renewables Development Co. Ltd 2012 ©
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Planning Supporting Statement - Partnerships for Renewables

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