Climate Change and Renewables

Placements Presentation

Allen HughesNational and Territorial Planning Scottish Government

Structure

• Branch responsibilities and targets• Climate change targets• Onshore wind, offshore wind and heat and NPF3

and SPP• Consenting and permitted development

Branch Responsibilities

• Climate change and planning • Renewables (mitigation)• Waste • Minerals

Branch Duties • Ministerial: briefings, speeches, correspondence,

parliamentary questions, ministerial support• Government: SG work groups, ensuring planning

interests are covered in work of other Directorates• Territorial: comments to territorials on MIRs, SDPs, LDPs

and SG, supporting territorials on visits• Research – commissioning & steering research• External Work e.g. SNH steering groups, good practice

events, liaison Scottish Renewables, presentations / panel members at conferences, talks to placements

• Legislation / NPF / SPP / Circular – Drafting & reporting• Online Advice – Drafting and regular update

Climate Change

• Climate Change (S) Act 2009 - Mitigation • Targets : 42% GHG emissions reduction in

Scotland by 2020, 80% by 2050• Public body duty ActionsS72 (3F) - GHG policies in dev plansSPACE – (Spatial Planning Assessment of

Climate Emissions)Carbon calculator for wind farms

Renewables

• Electricity, Heat and Community and Locally Owned Renewables Targets

• 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland

• Draft Electricity Generation Policy Statement 2010

• Draft Outline Heat Vision, RH – EE – DH Action Plans, emerging Heat Generation Policy statement (end of year)

Onshore Wind

• Dominates work of branch• Wind farm spatial frameworks

– Perceived ‘disconnect’ national and local• DM ’technical challenges’

– Wind farm visualisation– Community benefits, noise, tourism

NPF3 MIR & Draft SPP – Onshore Wind

– Reflects need for grid reinforcements– Supports further deployment, but balances

with commitments on protecting nationally important ‘landscapes’ & residential amenity

– Wind farms in NPs and NSAs not supported– Consults on SNH ‘core areas of wild land’

maps and community separation of 2.5km within spatial planning

– NPF3 question on energy storage

Supporting Offshore Renewables:NRIP (National Renewables Infrastructure

Plan)• Key action in RAP (2009): to provide leadership and an investment

plan for offshore wind, wave and tidal sectors

• About securing manufacturing, installation, operation & maintenance operations for the offshore renewables industry within Scotland– N-RIP Stage 1 report (Feb2010) spatial framework of 11 first

phase port & harbour sites, creating clusters of economic activity – N-RIP Stage 2 report (July 2010) investment required for 11

sites– N-RIP Stage 3 implementation– N-RIF (Nov 2010) £70M

• Ongoing advisory group meetings with stakeholders – Encourage PAs to be geared up in development plans and DM

to support as proposals arise, streamlining consenting.

NPF3 MIR – Offshore Renewables

• Support for delivery of NRIP• Prioritises onshore infrastructure for offshore

(particularly Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters, Forth, Tay and Moray Firths)

• Aberdeen Harbour Expansion national developments

• Electricity grid reinforcements• Relationship with marine planning

Planning and Heat

• Expert Commission on District Heating, • Heat mapping projects Highland, Fife and P&K,

funds available for rollout to all LAs• Deep geothermal study and workshop• Possible synergies with heat recovery, e.g. AEA

fossil fuel plant study

Planning and Heat online advice

NPF3 MIR & Draft SPP – Planning & Heat

– Establishes energy hierarchy (efficiency, recovery, generation)

– LDPs to use heat mapping to co-locate heat supply and demand .

– LDPs to support heat networks. Where not viable, individual property solutions

– Expectations on deep geothermal

Energy applications : RouteConsenting Route:- Electricity – Planning <

50MW, S36 Consents if >50MW

Planning - All heat only applications

National / Major / Local :- Major if capacity of

electricity generating station exceeds 20MW

No threshold for heat only applications in hierarchy (but may be other trigger)

Major DevelopmentsDefined in Classes in the Hierarchy

Regs with

size / area thresholds

Local Developments

Defined in the Hierarchy

Regs as all development which is neither

national

nor major

PD for Renewables?

…Subject to limitations and restrictions

―Ground and water source heat pump pipes

―Solar photo voltaic and solar thermal panels

―Biomass boilers and furnaces―Anaerobic digestion systems

―Solar photo voltaic & solar thermal panels

―Flues for biomass heating system―Flues for combined heat and power

system―Ground and water source heat pumps―Free-standing wind turbines and air

source heat pumps