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Energy: Land Use

Question for Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

UIN 903249, tabled on 12 March 2025

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of how agricultural land classification is assessed in energy infrastructure project decisions.

Answered on

18 March 2025

Both the National Planning Policy Framework and National Policy Statements were updated in 2024. They make clear that energy infrastructure should always be located in areas of poorer quality land rather that higher quality land where possible. At the end of September 2024, ground-mount solar PV panels only covered around 0.1 per cent of the total land area of the UK.

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