Infrastructures for renewable energy generation in England

Hansard 164WS, 21 July 2005

Malcolm Wicks, Minister for Energy, made a statement to the House on the new infrastructure development that is needed to meet the goals of the 2003 energy White Paper.

UK energy policy is delivered through a market framework, governed by an independent regulator. Decisions about the exact provision and location or route of energy transmission and distribution infrastructure would be taken within the planning system, which would ensure that development and changes in land use occur in suitable locations. The UK Government had not attempted to determine the best specific location for new facilities to generate electricity power or other kinds of energy infrastructure (unlike the Welsh Assembly in revised TAN 8 – see above).

In remoter areas, where new renewable generation is to take place, new distribution and transmission networks will be required. The Minister believes that developers will be best placed to make a judgment about the technical feasibility and economic viability of individual projects, and would have to demonstrate the desirability of a particular scheme in a particular location.

He went on to say that renewable energy resources are distributed widely throughout the UK. Therefore, for UK renewables targets to be met, a significant amount of new renewable generation infrastructure will need to be built in every region of the UK, often in local areas that have not previously housed generation infrastructure.

Extracted from the statement. The full text of the statement can be read here

New windfarm policy statement for Wales

Welsh Assembly 12 July 2005

Revised planning policy unveiled by the Welsh Assembly Government today paves the way for Wales to meet clean energy targets by 2010. Ministerial Interim Planning Policy Statement on Renewable Energy and the Technical Advice Note (TAN) 8 Planning for Renewable Energy have been published, following a comprehensive consultation exercise.

Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside Carwyn Jones said: "I am confident that the documents issued today set out a planning framework that is appropriate for Wales and will enable us to meet our commitment to deliver 4 Terawatt hours of electricity generated from renewable sources by 2010. "We gave careful consideration to the responses made to consultation on the drafts last year, and these have enabled us to make amendments which improve the documents whilst enabling us to protect Wales' key environmental assets of national and international importance."

Andrew Davies, Minister for Economic Development and Transport said: "Carwyn Jones and I intend to continue to work with local planning authorities, the industry and other key stakeholders to ensure progress on implementation of our policy and to enable effective planning for renewable energy in all its forms." Members of the Environment, Planning and Countryside Committee will have an opportunity to discuss the contents of the documents with the Minister at their meeting on 13 July.

The Deputy Economic Development and Transport Minister will report on them to the Economic Development and Transport Committee at its meeting on 14 July. Further information is available on the Welsh Assembly web site here

Mixed fortunes for Britain's upland birds says RSPB

The largest bird survey ever conducted in the British uplands has revealed mixed fortunes for many species, says the RSPB. The Repeat Upland Bird Survey, which counted bird numbers in 13 upland areas of Britain - from Exmoor to the Outer Hebrides - found evidence of large declines in some key upland species, such as the ring ouzel - also known as the mountain blackbird - which has declined in at least three quarters of the survey sites.

Innes Sim, a Scottish-based RSPB researcher and the paper's lead author, said: "Britain's uplands support important populations of several species of conservation concern. While there was a degree of variation in the results from one moor and another, the overall picture is of many birds ebbing away from our uplands."

The Repeat Upland Bird Survey compared bird numbers from surveys carried out in the 1980s and early 1990s, and again in 2000-2002. Of particular concern are wading birds, including the lapwing (which has declined in at least 56 per cent of the areas surveyed) and the curlew (which has declined in at least half of the survey sites). The ring ouzel has declined in at least three quarters of the areas surveyed. In contrast, the stonechat - a relative of the robin - and the raven have shown large increases in many areas. The twite - an upland finch closely related to the linnet - declined in at least two areas: the South Pennines and North Staffordshire.

Further research will focus on the potential causes of the serious declines found for some species. Factors such as afforestation, climate change, grazing pressure, acid rain, predator numbers and loss of heather moorland will be considered. The paper, which is co-authored by representatives from RSPB and English Nature, is due to be published in the November edition of the British Trust for Ornithology's journal: Bird Study.

The Repeat Upland Bird Survey, which covered an area greater than 1,300 square kilometres, gathered information from 13 study areas: Scotland: The East Flows and West Flows in Highland; North-East Scotland; Lewis and Harris, in the Outer Hebrides; South Scotland; South-west Scotland; England: North Pennines; Lake District; North Yorkshire; South Pennines; North Staffordshire; Exmoor, Somerset Wales: North Wales. More information is available on the RSPB website here