Sustainable energy scale - community integrated energy and infrastructure

At this scale, the Climate Change PPS refers to decentralised energy, such as district heating and combined heat and power (CHP) opportunities. Essentially, we are talking not just about renewable and low carbon generation, but also the infrastructure associated with its use.

You, as the local planning authority, will have a key role in identifying appropriate locations for this type of opportunity. For example, your planning policies could require new developments to connect to existing district heating networks or to contribute (financially or physically) to expansion of a network.

Using the evidence base, a number of policy options or actions (possibly corporate actions which you can take) can be explored. For most of the policy options described here, the toolkit provides you with details of how to go about developing the policy and an appropriate evidence base (where required) to support the types of policy described – simply follow the links to see more detail.

i) Identify areas and/or sites for renewable and low carbon energy and infrastructure. Once these have been defined, appropriate supporting policies can be developed, such as the following:

Utilising existing supply systems and fostering the development of new opportunities. You could for example prioritise the allocation of development sites that are close to an existing district heating network (DHN). Or, where no network yet exists, then a new development could form the basis of a wider network over time. Where there is an opportunity to expand a DHN beyond the boundary of a development , you should, of course, consider a range of delivery mechanisms - including a commitment to connecting your own buildings to the network where appropriate. See policy objective SE 6. Inform the site allocation for SE maximisation for more information.
You could develop policy which requires a development to connect, or be able to connect in future, to a district heating network. See SE 8. Require developers to connect to existing or proposed DHN for more information.
You could develop policy which requires developers to set land aside for energy infrastructure, including energy centres needed for an existing, planned or future network.
Where there is potential for connecting a development to a district heating network, planning policy can be used to specify appropriate design and layout requirements.

ii) You could consider using Local Development Orders (LDOs) to promote particular climate change or sustainable energy initiatives. These could include:

broadening the application of ‘permitted development’ rights in some or all of your area, to cover a wider range of householder and micro-renewable installations.
providing an overall framework permission for the installation of DHNs based on an existing generating station to serve existing housing.
providing a framework permission for the generating facility of a decentralised energy network, to serve several development sites and/or existing housing.
See SE 9. Using local development orders to support SE deployment for more details.

iii) There may be circumstances when it’s either not possible or desirable to deliver a DHN on a particular development, for example where a site is too small or the buildings too far apart (when the likely financial return wouldn't cover the capital cost of the infrastructure). In such cases a 'carbon-buyout fund' could be levied with contributions dependent on the amount of CO2 per square metre for every building constructed within the proposed development. This would allow the fund to be operated as part of the proposed Community Infrastructure Levy and to be used to fund energy infrastructure identified elsewhere in the Energy Opportunities Plan.

The fund should allow you to strategically coordinate and phase the infrastructure required to deliver community scale energy generation installations such as district heating networks.

See SE 7. Develop policies to support SE infrastructure fund.