Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) has officially started receiving applications for energy projects having potential to provide about GBP 50 billion worth of international investment in the UK energy sector, resulting in electricity supplies for 22 million UK homes.

The new body has been set up to consider and possibly approve major energy and transport projects in a more efficient manner. Included in the project pipeline are 17 energy schemes that combined could quite easily produce about three quarters of the total energy needs of homes in the UK, as well create a large number of jobs.

The total amount of capacity waiting for consideration by the IPC is about 22 GW, a large portion of which is to come from renewable energy sources.

The IPC is a new development consent process for large scale projects like wind farms, power stations and major roads. Eight former planning systems have been combined into one process, reducing the time needed to reach a decision about a project from seven years, to only one year. This represents about GBP 300 millio annually in savings for the country.

With no more "red tape" obstacles, the UK is poised to progress along its path to achieving reductions in carbon emissions, and reach the renewable goal by 2020.

Some of the renewable energy projects to be considered by the IPC in the first wave of projects are two wind farms and a biomass power plant – Atlantic Array wind farm project (RWE npower, in the Bristol channel), Irish Sea offshore wind farm (Airtricity, in Ceredigion, Wales) and Blyth biomass power plant (RES New Ventures, in Northumberland).

The IPC is currently appointing more staff to ensure it has all the resources necessary to start work.

[source: UK Infrastructure Planning Commission]