Six pathways, one decision, it’s time to move on the SSEP
This week the government confirmed a consultation on the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) will be launched in the new year. But what are the questions industry will want to be quizzed on? Kate Dooley, senior policy & regulatory affairs manager at renewable developer RES, gives her view.
Britain is about to decide where its future energy system will be built. The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) will guide where new generation and storage go for decades to come and, importantly, will also guide the Centralised Strategic Network Plan about where we need to build the grid today, for the future. In doing so, it will shape the system’s resilience, security and the energy bills of every household and business. The decisions at hand are crucial and demand both timely and considered input.
In late August, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) submitted six possible SSEP pathways to the secretary of state for energy security and net zero and the Scottish and Welsh governments. What happens next will determine how investment flows into postcodes across Great Britain.
Decisive does not mean rigid and the SSEP should be a compass, not a blueprint. Over its lifetime, technologies will mature, costs will fall and demand will shift in ways no model can fully anticipate. A plan that sets a clear direction while leaving room for the market to respond will outlast one that tries to fix every outcome in advance. Competition and innovation are how the best projects come forward and the SSEP must make space for both. We expect the department for energy security and net zero to set out how that flexibility will be built in later this year through an update to the reformed national pricing programme.
One essential safeguard that must be included is that no project should be refused planning permission simply because it sits outside the plan's indicative locations or volumes. The SSEP should guide decisions, not gatekeep them.
Kate Dooley, senior policy & regulatory affairs manager, RES
Kate Dooley, senior policy & regulatory affairs manager, RES
Britain is about to decide where its future energy system will be built. The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) will guide where new generation and storage go for decades to come and, importantly, will also guide the Centralised Strategic Network Plan about where we need to build the grid today, for the future. In doing so, it will shape the system’s resilience, security and the energy bills of every household and business. The decisions at hand are crucial and demand both timely and considered input.
In late August, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) submitted six possible SSEP pathways to the secretary of state for energy security and net zero and the Scottish and Welsh Governments. What happens next will determine how investment flows into postcodes across Great Britain.
Decisive does not mean rigid and the SSEP should be a compass, not a blueprint. Over its lifetime, technologies will mature, costs will fall and demand will shift in ways no model can fully anticipate. A plan that sets a clear direction while leaving room for the market to respond will outlast one that tries to fix every outcome in advance. Competition and innovation are how the best projects come forward and the SSEP must make space for both. We expect the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to set out how that flexibility will be built in later this year through an update to the Reformed National Pricing programme.
One essential safeguard that must be included is that no project should be refused planning permission simply because it sits outside the plan's indicative locations or volumes. The SSEP should guide decisions, not gatekeep them.
A consultation that means something
Industry will be asked to turn this plan into projects on the ground, yet its role in shaping the pathways to date has been limited. Plans drawn up without those who must deliver them tend to look compelling on paper but struggle in practice. RES has been developing, building and operating renewable energy projects for over 40 years. Industry's experience of supply chains, consenting and build programmes is exactly what will make the SSEP credible.
That is why the forthcoming consultation matters. NESO plans a statutory consultation on the draft plan, with wider views welcomed. That is a welcome start, but a plan of this scale deserves more. A consultation that means something should publish the evidence, assumptions and modelling behind all six pathways, not only the one chosen, and give those who will deliver the plan, alongside other stakeholders, a genuine opportunity to influence the outcome.
RES and the wider industry want what government wants: a secure, affordable energy system for every household and business. By sharing the evidence openly and working together, we can shape an SSEP that delivers it and carries the confidence of everyone who will help build it.
