New analysis from Conrad Energy reveals that just 18% of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects receive a planning decision within the recommended statutory timeframe of 16 months.
The findings raise concerns about the Government’s ability to deliver on ambitions to accelerate infrastructure delivery.
The research covers 163 NSIPs and shows that projects face an average delay of 148 days beyond the 487-day target set out in the Planning Act 2008. Only 30 projects met the recommended timeframe.
Eighteen projects experienced delays of more than a year. Six of these waited over two years and the longest delay stretched to 1,242 days.
The delays come despite billions of pounds of public funding allocated through the Spending Review, the Infrastructure Strategy and the Industrial Strategy.
Conrad Energy warns that these challenges risk undermining efforts to support economic growth and energy security.
With 88 of the projects linked to energy generation or electric lines, the findings are particularly worrying for the UK’s Net Zero goals.
The National Energy System Operator has previously said that achieving a clean power system by 2030 will require delivery “at the limit of what is feasible.”
Philip Silk, Development Director at Conrad Energy, said: “It is clear that the lengthy delays NSIPs face whilst waiting for a decision on planning applications are a huge obstacle to the plans to ‘Get Britain Building’ and unlock economic growth through investment in infrastructure.
“The delays are particularly concerning for the energy transition with over half of NSIPs since 2010 linked to the energy sector.”
Most major infrastructure projects miss approval deadline appeared first on Energy Live News.