National Policy Statements for energy infrastructure
Energy National Policy Statements provide planning guidance for developers of nationally significant energy infrastructure projects.
The energy National Policy Statements cover:
- the overarching needs case for different types of energy infrastructure
- natural gas electricity generation
- renewable electricity generation
- gas and oil infrastructure
- electricity networks
- nuclear energy
The guidance makes it easier for decision makers, applicants and the wider public to understand:
- government policy on the need for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs)
- how applications for energy infrastructure will be assessed
- the way in which impacts and mitigations will be judged
National Policy Statements
The 2025 versions of National Policy Statements 1, 3 and 5 came into force on 6 January 2026.
The National Policy Statement for nuclear energy generation (EN-7) came into force on 18 December 2025.
The 2023 revised NPSs (EN-2 and EN-4) came into force on 17 January 2024.
6 January 2026
In 2025 we consulted on draft updates to to EN-1, EN-3 and EN-5, and separately on the new NPS, EN-7 - see the Consultations section below.
In November 2025 we published the government response to both consultations, and draft versions of the NPSs.
All updated NPSs are now in force.
Nuclear energy
EN-6 and EN-7 both apply to applications for development consent relating to nuclear energy:
- EN-6 applies to relevant to nuclear power stations deployable by 2025
- EN-7 will apply indefinitely to all nationally significant infrastructure projects using nuclear fission to generate energy