Strategic energy planning (SEP) publications, consultations and updates
As NESO, our responsibilities around energy planning have expanded. We’re taking a strategic approach that considers energy needs at national and regional levels, across different types of energy such as electricity, gas and hydrogen. As we are developing a whole energy system approach, we also consider community and environmental interests, as well as safeguarding system resilience and minimising system cost.
Our strategic energy planning activities are interlinked, and we’ve predicted that some stakeholders may be interested in more than one plan. Therefore, we are aligning deliverables and engagement where appropriate to meet stakeholder needs. Here you can find the outputs and updates that are for more than one project.
SSEP, CSNP and tCSNP2 Refresh methodology publications and consultation – December 2024
To ensure our plans are robust and that stakeholders are given a voice from the start of these processes, we are consulting on a series of draft methodologies and outputs. We have launched three publications for consultation:
- The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) draft methodology, which sets out the principles and method for delivering the SSEP
- The Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP) high level principles, which will underpin the methodology for the CSNP and
- The transitional CSNP2 (tCSNP2) Refresh methodology, which is a refreshed version of our interim network planning approach.
A supporting document has also been published that explains how our strategic energy planning deliverables interact with each other and with wider NESO activities.
We have made these publications as accessible as possible to all interested parties. Due to the subjects covered, the content is at times detailed and technical. Beyond this consultation, there will be further opportunities to engage through the development of these plans and their outputs.
Document library
Respond to the consultation
The consultation runs from 9 December until 20 January. We welcome comments from interested parties.
If you have any questions about the publications or consultation process, please email us [email protected] .
Recent Webinar
We hosted a webinar on 17 December which provided an overview of our publications and how to respond to the consultation, with an opportunity for question and answer. You can find the slides and recording below.
Next steps and wider activities
Following the consultation period, we will refine our publications based on stakeholder feedback and follow up with the below actions:
- Publish the final SSEP methodology in Spring 2025 following approval from UK, Scottish and Welsh governments and Ofgem.
- Launch a consultation on the draft CSNP methodology in Q2.
- Submit the tCSNP2 methodology to Ofgem by 31 March 2025 and publish it.
The SSEP will provide greater certainty on the zonal locations of electricity generation and storage, including hydrogen infrastructure. The SSEP will feed into our CSNP, which will cover the transmission network needed to deliver the spatial energy plan and provide an independent, coordinated and long-term approach to transmission network planning in Great Britain. The tCSNP2 Refresh is part of the intermediate phase as we develop towards the CSNP.
Ahead of this, through ‘Clean Power 2030’, we have advised government on which network upgrades and market and policy decisions could accelerate the development of a clean power system by 2030. The strategic energy plans will take the UK Government’s response to this advice - the Clean Power Action Plan - into account as a starting point for analysis.
Considerable and effective engagement is pivotal to ensuring that the plans we produce are robust, deliverable and reflect a variety of views. Below you will find information on our engagement activities:
SEP Industry Working Group
Input from industry stakeholders will help to shape and influence the development of our strategic energy plans. The SEP Industry Working Group has been established as a core channel to co-ordinate and align engagement across SEP projects. We have given careful consideration to memberships to ensure the bodies in the group give a voice to a cross-section of the industry.
The group has representation from across the energy industry, including electricity and gas networks, developers, trade associations and representative bodies and supply chain. The full terms of reference, which include a list of the members, can be found in the document library.
We are also carrying out a programme of strategic engagement such as one to one meetings to discuss specific topics or issues.