A significant portion of renewable energy project applications in Great Britain have been unsuccessful over the past five years, according to a study by Cornwall Insight. The research revealed that 63% of these projects were either abandoned, refused planning permission, or had their applications withdrawn or expired between 2018 and 2023. The remaining applications were either approved or revised.
Renewable energy developers have voiced concerns about the challenges in obtaining planning permission for various projects, including offshore wind farms, onshore solar panels, and battery storage developments. Additionally, the wait times for connecting these projects to Britain’s electricity grid can exceed a decade.
The study indicated that no region in Great Britain had more than a 20% success rate in gaining planning permission for renewable projects. Cornwall Insight suggested that "speculative and duplicate applications" were partially responsible for the low approval rates, pointing to reports that “phantom” energy projects are impeding efforts to decarbonise the grid.
In 2023, the amount of electricity generated by the UK’s gas and coal power plants dropped by 20%, reaching its lowest level since 1957. Renewable energy became the largest source of power, providing 42% of the country's electricity, while gas power plants accounted for 31%.
The Conservative Party aims to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2035, while Labour is targeting 2030. Both parties have promised to streamline the planning regime if they win the upcoming general election. The Conservatives have committed to reducing the average time for approving major infrastructure projects from four years to one year. Labour has proposed updating planning policies and funding additional planning officers. The party has also pledged to create a state-owned company, Great British Energy, and set ambitious targets to expand wind and solar power by 2030 to meet the UK’s net-zero commitments by 2050.
Despite these pledges, Labour faced criticism in February for retracting a plan to invest £28 billion annually in green energy.
