The House of Lords last night passed a Labour amendment to significantly widen the grace period criteria for onshore wind farms affected by the early closure of the Renewables Obligation.
Peers voted 182 to 178 in favour of Labour energy spokesman Lord Grantchester’s Energy Bill amendment to allow projects where the relevant planning authority had resolved to grant planning permission for a wind farm by 18 June 2015.
As introduced from the Commons, the bill allowed wind farms only where legal agreements, known as Section 106 approval in England or Section 75 in Scotland, had been issued by the authority by the cut-off date.
Peers on all sides of the Lords criticised the bill’s perceived unfairness for excluding these projects by going against Government policy to give local people “the final say” on wind farms.
The Labour amendment must first be approved by the House of Commons before it can become law.
With the bill returning to the Lords for ping pong after the initially proposed closure date passed, energy minister Lord Bourne has reworded the bill from “31 March 2016” to “the onshore wind closure date”.
As a consequence, DECC will close the RO to grace period criteria projects – those granted planning consent, grid connection and land rights before 18 June 2015 – on the first anniversary of the Energy Bill gaining Royal Assent.
Image: UK parliament (FreeImages)
