The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is consulting on updated planning rules for new energy schemes that combine energy storage with energy generation.

At present, energy storage schemes under 50MW go through local planning, while those above 50MW have to go through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime. BEIS said it plans to change the threshold for storage projects co-located with other forms of generation so that as long as each aspect is under 50MW – e.g. a 49.9MW solar farm with 49.9MW of storage – the project would stay in the local planning regime.

The consultation, which is open until 25 March 2019, is also seeking views on:

– Whether the 50MW threshold is appropriate for standalone storage
– Any other areas of the planning system that treat storage inappropriately