The future of the UK’s energy system?
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has published its Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Scoping Report for the UK’s first Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP), marking a significant milestone in the planning of the UK’s long-term energy infrastructure.[1] With the draft SSEP and the full SEA Environmental Report due for public consultation in early 2027, now is a good time to understand what this process involves and why it matters for communities, environmental groups, and anyone with an interest in how and where energy infrastructure is developed across the UK.
The SSEP is a national-level plan being developed by NESO to chart the future of the UK’s energy system. It will set out where energy infrastructure, such as offshore wind farms, solar installations, grid connections, and other generation and storage assets, should be located, in order to deliver the government’s clean energy ambitions. Because the SSEP will shape decisions at a strategic level — long before individual planning applications are made — it has the potential to influence environmental outcomes across a very wide area.
What is a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)?
A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a systematic process, outlined under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004,[2] to assess the environmental consequences of plans and programmes which have the potential to lead to significant environmental effects before they are adopted. SEA operates at a higher level than Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which applies to individual projects, and this makes SEA an important tool for scrutinising broader environmental implications of strategic decisions.
The scoping stage is the first formal stage of the SEA process. This determines the boundaries of the assessment, including what should be assessed, the organisations and individuals to be consulted, and the length of the consultation period. It is therefore important to shape the overall assessment going forward and ensure all relevant environmental issues are considered. Following the scoping stage, NESO must consider reasonable alternatives and draft the Environmental Report. This must be open to public consultation before a final version is adopted and the plan is implemented.
The SSEP and its SEA
NESO published the SEA Scoping Report for the SSEP in March 2025. It provides a scope for the SEA under eight topics including ecology and biodiversity, landscape, water resources, climate, and others.[3] It also suggests consideration of the relationship between the SSEP and other relevant policies, plans, and programmes in each of the relevant topics such as the net-zero carbon emissions target and air quality limits. This helps ensure that environmental considerations are embedded in the plan from the outset, rather than being raised at a later stage in a piecemeal way.[4]
The scoping stage involves consultation with statutory consultees, including bodies such as Natural England, Historic England, and the Environment Agency as well as other relevant organisations. However, general public consultation is only available following the full SEA Report.[5]
The scoping report is divided into spatial zones including 13 territorial zones and 9 maritime zones. It provides a summary of the existing environmental baseline in each area, including relevant challenges and opportunities, so that SSEP proposals can be assessed in context.[6] The key challenges are also said to have informed the development of the SEA’s framework objectives and the questions to be asked during the assessment process.[7]
The completion of the Scoping Report marks the end of the SSEP’s scoping phase. The next stage, following a review of alternatives, will be the full SEA Report. This document will set out the actual assessment of the SSEP’s likely environmental effects and will be published alongside the draft SSEP itself for public consultation in early 2027. This will inform the final plan for implementation.
That public consultation will be an important opportunity for individuals, communities, environmental organisations, and other interested parties to scrutinise both the plan and the environmental assessment, and to raise concerns or objections about the approach taken or the conclusions reached.
Strategic planning processes of this scale can have profound and long-lasting effects on landscapes, habitats, and communities. Because the SSEP will operate at a level above individual projects, decisions made now about the scope and methodology of the SEA could affect what issues are and, importantly, are not examined in the final assessment. Engagement at each stage, including careful review of the Scoping Report, is therefore important for those who wish to ensure that environmental and community interests are properly considered.
How we can help
We can help with consultation submissions on the SEA or with helping resolve issues on the SSEP process. If you would like to discuss this or the treatment of environmental issues in strategic energy planning more broadly, please do get in touch. See here for how to get in touch.
[1] <https://www.neso.energy/what-we-do/strategic-planning/strategic-spatial-energy-planning-ssep>
[2] NB: in England only. Scotland and Wales have different regulations transposing the original EU Directive 2001/42/EC into national law.
[3] Scoping Report pgs 9-10 [2.2]; pg 356 [27.1]. < https://www.neso.energy/document/368326/download>
[4] Scoping Report pgs 12-15 [3.1]. < https://www.neso.energy/document/368326/download>
[5] Scoping Report pg 338 [28.2]. < https://www.neso.energy/document/368326/download>
[6] Scoping Report pg 17 [4.1]; [4.3]. < https://www.neso.energy/document/368326/download>
[7] Scoping Report pg 17 [4.2]; pg 356 [27.1]. < https://www.neso.energy/document/368326/download>
