The government has announced plans to accelerate planning approvals for the Sizewell C nuclear project and a major sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.
Ministers have designated the Environment Agency as the “lead environmental regulator” for the nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast and Lighthouse Green Fuels, a Teesside facility producing green fuel for aeroplanes.
This aims to streamline a process where developers typically engage with multiple bodies – including Natural England, the Marine Management Organisation, and Forestry England – a system often leading to costly delays in securing planning approval.
The Environment Agency will now act as a single point of contact, coordinating all environmental checks on the projects’ potential impact on nature.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has, however, assured that this change will not lead to a watering down of green standards, as the agency will co-ordinate with the other regulators on all the same assessments.
Ministers say Sizewell C could supply six million homes with nuclear energy, reducing England’s reliance on foreign fossil fuel imports and its exposure to volatile prices.
If approved, the Lighthouse Green Fuels project will become Europe’s largest SAF plant for fuels made from sources such as agricultural waste, forestry residues, municipal solid waste and used cooking oils instead of food crops.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: “We are taking back control of our energy supply to bring stability for families and create skilled jobs for local people, without compromising on environmental protections.
“Global shocks from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East show that relying on a volatile global fossil fuel market is simply not sustainable for Britain.
“These measures are a win-win for energy security, nature and for keeping bills down in the long-run.”
It comes amid the Government’s wider efforts to remove almost all fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity generation by 2030, as well as overhaul the planning system to speed up the rollout of new energy and infrastructure projects.
Last month, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband unveiled plans to speed up new nuclear power projects by overhauling regulations and cutting costs as part of the Government’s response to an independent review, led by former Office of Fair Trading boss John Fingleton.
Ministers said they will implement some recommendations from the review by the end of the year, which includes appointing a lead regulator to reduce bureaucracy in the planning process.
While the Government will not carry forward the recommendation to water down regulations that protect the country’s most important habitats, green groups said concerns and uncertainties remain over how the reforms could affect environmental protections.
Mina Golshan, safety, security and assurance director at Sizewell C, said: “Simplifying regulation like this will lead to better outcomes for the environment, greater efficiencies for our project, and better value for consumers.
“It gives us a simple framework to build on our already constructive relationship with the Environment Agency – and we embrace the opportunity to demonstrate how regulation can work more effectively and efficiently for both project delivery and environmental protection.”
Noaman Al Adhami, UK country head for Alfanar Projects, the developers behind Lighthouse Green Fuels, said: “We welcome the opportunity to support Defra’s lead environmental regulator pilot, which represents an important step forward in streamlining engagement with statutory bodies and accelerating the delivery of major infrastructure projects.
“By enabling earlier, more co-ordinated regulatory input, this initiative will help unlock investment and support the timely progression of projects like Lighthouse Green Fuels as we advance towards construction.”
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