Energy Infrastructure Planning Projects

Thursday 16th November 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Amanda Solloway)]

This statement concerns an application for development consent made under the Planning Act 2008 by Net Zero Teesside Power Ltd and Net Zero North Sea Storage Ltd for a full-chain carbon capture, usage and storage project, which includes a new gas-fired electricity generating station, with a post-combustion carbon capture plant, gas, electricity and water connections, and a CO₂ pipeline network, located on Teesside.

Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make a decision on an application within three months of the receipt of the examining authority’s report unless exercising the power under section 107(3) of the Act to set a new deadline. Where a new deadline is set, the Secretary of State must make a statement to Parliament to announce it. The current statutory deadline for the decision on the Net Zero Teesside project is 16 November 2023.

The Secretary of State has received new information from a statutory consultee, and has decided that it is necessary to set a new deadline of no later than 16 February 2024 for deciding this application to enable the Department to ensure there is sufficient time to consider this new information and to conduct the necessary consultations with interested parties.

The decision to set the new deadline for this application is without prejudice to the decisions on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

[HCWS39]