Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to ensure the removal of energy infrastructure from natural landscape post-decommissioning.

Responsibility for decommissioning and removal of energy infrastructure on land, including the restoration of sites, is set out in the relevant planning permissions. For nationally significant energy infrastructure decisions taken by the Department, the relevant National Policy Statements set out the requirements for decommissioning, which are reflected in individual Decision Letters.

The responsibility for decommissioning sits with the developer. Under the National Policy Statement, applicants are required to put forward outline plans for decommissioning within their Development Consent Order application. The Secretary of State then uses the DCO requirements to legally secure the decommissioning process, ensuring the site is safely dismantled and restored after operations cease.

There are separate legal regimes and international obligations relating to the decommissioning of marine energy infrastructure, for oil and gas and for renewables.