What’s New for the Energy Sector in the Draft National Planning Framework?

The Government has published a draft revision to the National Planning Framework for public consultation. There are some significant changes, especially to energy policy and objectives. Our Planning & Environment team considers the key changes.

The National Planning Framework (NPF) is the Government’s high-level, strategic plan for future development in Ireland. The current version of the NPF was published in 2018.

The Government has published a draft revision to the 2018 NPF for public consultation, which is available online. The revised draft NPF proposes some significant changes to energy policy and objectives. We consider some of the key changes here.

The draft NPF remains subject to change. Public consultation on the revised draft NPF closed on 12 September 2024 and the Department is currently reviewing the consultation responses.

There is an increased emphasis on the importance of renewable energy development and the infrastructure needed to support this. Chapter 9 acknowledges that the “accelerated delivery of additional renewable energy generation is…essential for Ireland to meet its climate targets.” A number of new or amended National Policy Objectives (NPOs) have been proposed in order to achieve this objective.

The ‘Vision’ section of the revised NPF identifies a need for a “more active approach to the management of land”. This more strategic, plan-led approach is a theme throughout the revised NPF.

Onshore renewable energy

Regional Renewable Energy Capacity Allocations

Table 9.1 sets regional renewable energy capacity allocations for wind and solar energy. This was one of the key actions for 2024 under the Climate Action Plan 2024.

New NPO 75 requires each Regional Assembly to plan how and where to deliver the required capacity by identifying capacity allocations for each Local Authority in its area.

New NPO 76 requires Local Authorities to plan for the delivery of the energy capacity target that they have been allocated. This is a significant change from the current NPF. It represents a more active and prescriptive approach to land use planning for renewable energy development.

Co-location of Renewable Energy

New text in Chapter 9 identifies the benefit and opportunity offered by the co-location of renewable energy with complementary uses, such as industrial and agricultural uses. New NPO 74 supports co-location at appropriate locations. This is an increase in the level of support for co-location of renewables, compared with the current NPF.

Repowering

New text in Chapter 9 notes that repowering “has significant potential to contribute to the achievement of national renewable energy targets and is a central component of EU accelerated renewable electricity policy strategy, including the REPower EU Plan”. There is no mention of repowering in the current NPF. However, the revised NPF does not go as far as introducing a specific NPO which supports repowering.

Grid and interconnection

Grid

New NPOs 72 and 73 provide increased support for the development, upgrading and interconnection of grid infrastructure. New NPO 56 recognises the role of grid infrastructure in supporting offshore renewable energy development.

Interconnection

NPO 62 seeks to strengthen an all-island interconnection. This is unchanged from the current NPF (NPO 47) except for the addition of a reference to exploring “the potential for strategic cooperation on offshore wind energy development”.

This change is aligned with the increasingly strategic, plan-led approach to offshore development outlined under the Maritime National Marine Planning Framework and the ‘Designated Maritime Area Plans’ (DMAP) process. Please see our previous article for details. There is reference to the importance of international interconnection but limited new text on this. There is no specific objective supporting international interconnection.

Offshore renewable energy

Offshore Potential

There is a new section on offshore renewable energy in Chapter 7. This acknowledges Ireland’s ambitious offshore generation targets. The section outlines the strategic, plan-led approach being adopted to achieve these targets. While the current NPF is supportive of offshore renewable energy development, for example NPO 42, the revised draft NPF places greater emphasis on this.

Ports

There is increased recognition of the critical role played by ports in facilitating renewable energy development and the need for new and improved port infrastructure. New NPO 52 seeks to “support the sustainable delivery of port and harbour infrastructure to facilitate the development, maintenance and operation of offshore renewable electricity generating developments".

Conclusion

There are a number of significant changes proposed to energy policy and objectives, generally indicating increased support for renewable energy development and associated infrastructure.

Some additional supportive text is added on repowering and international interconnection, but neither benefit from a new, topic-specific NPO. This is surprising given the amount of EU action on these topics and their importance in the creation of a reliable, secure renewable energy supply. It will be interesting to see if the final draft NPF provides increased support.

Overall, the revised NPF proposes a more active and prescriptive approach to the management of the use of land in order to meet Ireland’s climate and energy targets. This is aligned with other recent Government action, such as the National Marine Planning Framework, the Future Framework Policy Statement for Offshore Renewable Energy and the Designated Maritime Area Plan process. If this approach is adopted in the final NPF, it will be important that the implementation timelines and process facilitates achievement of the 2030 targets.

For more information and expert advice on successfully navigating the complex, changing landscape of renewable energy development, contact a member of our Planning & Environment team.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.