Can every delay really be blamed on the planning process? When it comes to how painfully slow the roll-out of renewable projects seems to be, it is not a surprise that the first finger pointed is at planning. Yet the real picture is a touch more complex than simply a Byzantine planning process.
“It’s certainly one of the most significant bottlenecks,” says Justin Brown, chief executive of Power Capital. “Planning delays create uncertainty for developers, communities, and investors alike. But grid delivery is equally critical. The two must move in tandem, there’s no point approving projects that can’t connect, and vice versa.”
Jacinta Conway, partner in the environment and planning group at Arthur Cox, shares Brown’s view that the matter is complex but also points to the EU level analysis that highlights the issues with planning.
“The Draghi Report stated that Ireland has the slowest planning and consenting regime in the EU for wind energy and the second slowest for solar electricity,” she says. “The unnecessary complexity of Irish legislation, together with poor administrative practices and onerous obligations for applicants are barriers to all major developments. This is not a fault with the planning system, but a general governance issue which disproportionately affects planning.”
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The Planning and Development Act 2024 was designed to address the concerns around delays specifically. Brown hopes it has some impact but feels that more needs to be done.
“The new act may help alleviate some delays, but further reforms will likely be necessary to meet Ireland’s ambitious decarbonisation and electrification targets,” he says.
Conway believes the act needs to go further and to be more focused on the breadth of issues it needs to address.
“There are helpful provisions in the new Planning Act but in general it continues to require disproportionate regulation and overly rigorous environmental assessments of many relatively risk-free developments such as the provision of grid connections,” she says. “Moreover, there are a number of provisions which could have been included in the 2024 Act, which were not.”
Wind farms, for example, have operational lives imposed on them under current planning conditions. This isn’t changed in the updated act.
Under the current system, as new renewable energy developments come online, existing viable renewable energy developments will be required to shut down because they are at the end of their conditioned operational life.
In Conway’s view, this runs contrary to Ireland’s decarbonisation goals and that the 2024 act missed an opportunity to remove the operational life requirement.
“Other large infrastructure projects, such as factories, do not have operational lives attached to their consents. They are permitted to operate for as long as they are viable. We see no reason why operational lives are imposed on renewable energy projects,” she says.
“Consideration should be given to introducing additional exemptions for renewable energy projects and expanding the scope and flexibility of the currently exempted development classes in relation to renewable energy projects.”
All of these obstacles don’t exactly paint a pretty picture. With getting through planning like swimming in treacle, hitting the 2030 targets looks doubtful.
“Current timelines are challenging. If we want to achieve 2030 targets, decision-making needs to become more predictable and better resourced,” says Brown.
Conway’s assessment is even more stark. She doesn’t believe there’s any realistic way for the State to meet its targets on time.
“Given delays in the consenting process and subsequent judicial review challenges, it is practically impossible for Ireland to meet this legally binding target on time,” she says.
The Climate Action Plan 2024 sets a target of deploying 9GW of onshore wind, 7GW of solar power and at least 5GW from offshore projects by 2030. Resourcing however is making these targets appear awfully challenging.
“Inadequate resources and expertise on the part of public and environmental regulatory authorities result in consenting bottlenecks for all categories of development.
“The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) requires that all consents, licences and permits for renewable energy developments are granted or refused within specified time frames. Although Ireland recently introduced mandatory decision-making time frames for renewable energy development applications through its RED III Regulations, it remains to be seen whether all consenting authorities will be able to meet these deadlines.”
Simply rushing won’t address the issue, however. If anything, it could make the bottlenecks worse through slipshod management. Brown wants the overall process to become clearer so that speed is essentially built into the system.
“Speed shouldn’t come at the expense of quality. What’s needed is clarity and consistency. Early, structured engagement with communities and clear environmental standards create trust and reduce delays,” he says.
“It’s about improving processes and resourcing rather than compromising scrutiny. Many developers, including us, already go beyond minimum engagement requirements to build long-term relationships with communities.”
