Herbert Smith Advises EDF Energy on Landmark New Nuclear Application Accepted by the Infrastructure Planning Commission

Friday, November 25, 2011
Tags:  Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
Herbert Smith has advised longstanding client EDF Energy on its application to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) for development consent for the construction and operation of a new 3.2GW nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Once fully operational, the power station will provide approximately 6% of the nation’s electricity.

Herbert Smith has been advising EDF Energy on their new nuclear plans since 2006 and the project, known as Hinkley Point C, would represent the first new nuclear site to be developed in the UK. EDF Energy’s application was submitted to the IPC on 31 October 2011 and the IPC announced yesterday that it has formally accepted the application.
This means that the application will now be taken forward for examination by the IPC. The examination and decision process is expected to take about a year.
Hinkley Point C is a nationally significant infrastructure project, which requires development consent under the Planning Act 2008. Only a small number of applications have been submitted to the IPC since it was authorised to start receiving applications in March 2010 and this will be the largest and most complicated application to date. 
As the first major application to go through the new regime under the 2008 Act, it will inevitably set a precedent for other energy and infrastructure providers to follow, and will be monitored closely by project promoters and their advisers.
Herbert Smith advised EDF Energy on all legal aspects of preparing for and submitting this application. The Herbert Smith planning team is led by Matthew White and senior associate Catherine Howard, who was seconded to EDF Energy during preparation of the application. The team also comprises planning partner Clare Fielding, corporate partner Julia Pyke and public law partner Nusrat Zar, who led a team advising on the public law aspects of the proposals.
Matthew White commented:
“It has been a phenomenal team effort over a number of years by EDF Energy to prepare an application of this complexity. We have advised on several unprecedented legal issues in dealing with the new and untested national planning regime for projects of this size. The IPC’s acceptance of the application is therefore a major milestone for the future of nuclear energy in the UK.”
Herbert Smith also assisted EDF Energy in securing the first consent to be granted by the IPC under section 53 of the 2008 Act to allow compulsory access to land for the purposes of surveys to be carried out. 
In parallel with the application for development consent, EDF Energy is also seeking consents from West Somerset Council and the Marine Management Organisation for preliminary works on the site. Herbert Smith has been closely involved in advising EDF Energy on these applications and in negotiating a multi-million pound planning agreement for the first stages of the project, which are expected to begin next year.