Suffolk - Non-Material Change to Gas-Fired Power Station Development Consent Order

PROGRESS POWER LIMITED

SECTION 153 OF THE PLANNING ACT 2008 AND REGULATION 6 OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (CHANGES TO, AND REVOCATION OF, DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDERS) REGULATIONS 2011

NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO MAKE A NON-MATERIAL CHANGE TO THE FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER:

THE PROGRESS POWER (GAS FIRED POWER STATION) ORDER 2015 (S.I. 2015/1570) AS CORRECTED (S.I. 2016/736) AND AMENDED (S.I. 2016/1086 & S.I. 2020/807)

Notice is hereby given that an application has been made by Progress Power Limited (company number 08421833) whose registered office is at Drax Power Station, Drax, Selby, United Kingdom, YO8 8PH ("PPL") to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to make a non-material change to the Progress Power (Gas Fired Power Station) Order 2015 (as corrected by the Progress Power (Gas Fired Power Station) (Correction) Order 2016 and amended by the Progress Power (Gas Fired Power Station) (Amendment) Order 2016 and Progress Power (Gas Fired Power Station) (Amendment) Order 2020) (the "Order") under the Planning Act 2008 ("NMC3").

The Order includes provision authorising the construction, operation and maintenance of a gas-fired generating station and its associated gas and electrical connections at Eye Business Park, Eye, Suffolk.

Work No. 5

Work No. 5 is for the construction of a substation (the "Substation") to be operated by National Grid Electricity Transmission Plc ("NGET") and comprises, as set out in Schedule 1 of the Order, a "400 kV substation and site office and welfare accommodation; 400 kV cable sealing end compound; underground high voltage electrical cables and associated telemetry and electrical protection auxiliary cabling; security infrastructure including perimeter fencing with gates, security cameras and site lighting; landscaping including bunds, tree planting, fencing and other boundary treatments and ecological mitigation; site drainage and waste management infrastructure; and internal roadways, car parking, pedestrian network and hardstanding for planned maintenance".

The Order currently provides, in Article 6(1)(a), that Work No. 5 is for the benefit of both PPL and NGET. NGET completed the construction of the Substation in May 2026 and is entirely responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Substation (i.e. PPL is no longer involved in Work No. 5). PPL therefore proposes, via NMC3, to amend the Order so that the benefit of Work No. 5 is for NGET only. This amendment will assist the relevant planning authority in respect of the monitoring of compliance with the Order in respect of the Substation going forward.

PPL also proposes to make consequential amendments to Article 2 and to reflect that National Grid Gas plc is now called National Gas Transmission plc.

Work No. 7

Work No. 7 comprises, as set out in Schedule 1 of the Order, "a new means of access between Work No. 5 and the A140 including road widening, new turning lane, signing and road markings works, permanent road surface, gates, fencing, drainage, infilling, landscaping and tree and hedge removal and other incidental works".

The access between Leys Lane and the Substation was completed in January 2022 (the "Substation Access").

In May 2019, Mid Suffolk Council granted PPL planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for the "creation of a temporary access road between A140 and Leys Lane, Yaxley for use during the construction of Progress Power Station Limited Power Station" (Application Reference: DC/19/02267) (the "Temporary Access Road"). Construction of the Temporary Access Road commenced on 8 November 2021 and was completed on 28 September 2022. The Temporary Access Road provided sufficient access to the Substation during its construction and, as a result, the access works between the A140 and Leys Lane authorised under Work No. 7 of the Order were not required.

If carried out, the proposed access between the A140 and Leys Lane would have severed the existing access between Old Norwich Road and Yaxley Lake and Yaxley Allotments and an alternative access for users of Yaxley Lake and Yaxley Allotments was therefore also included as part of Work No. 7. As the Temporary Access Road meant that the existing access to Yaxley Lake and Yaxley Allotments was not interfered with, the alternative means of access to Yaxley Lake and Yaxley Allotments provided for in Work No. 7 was unnecessary and not built. For the same reason, the reinstatement plan required by paragraph 3 of Requirement 6 of the Order was not submitted, as the works between Old Norwich Road and the A140 were never undertaken.¹

In February 2023, Conrad Energy (Developments) Ltd ("Conrad") received planning permission for the "construction and operation of Synchronous Condensers with ancillary infrastructure, and associated works including access and landscaping" (Application Reference: DC/22/04021). The permission allowed for "the temporary use of the existing track from the A140 to Leys Lane for the construction phase of the development only". Condition 12 required Conrad to submit, for the local planning authority's approval, a plan and timetable for the reinstatement of the Temporary Access Road. This condition was discharged by Conrad on 5 May 2023 (Application Reference: DC/23/01935). Accordingly, Conrad is responsible for the Temporary Access Road and its reinstatement pursuant to Conrad's planning permission. Once the Temporary Access Road has been reinstated, the Substation can continue to be accessed via the Substation Access at Leys Lane from Mellis Road.

PPL therefore proposes to retain the provisions in the Order relating to the Substation Access and, via NMC3, remove the access works that were not required and not undertaken in relation to A140 to Leys Lane from Work No. 7 and make the necessary consequential amendments to the Order.

Plans

Finally, PPL proposes to make consequential amendments to the Works Plan and Rights of Way, Streets and Access Plan.

Overall

NMC3 is necessary for the reasons set out above. The changes under NMC3 will not:

• give rise to any materially new or materially different environmental effects to those originally assessed as part of the application for the Order;

• require additional compulsory acquisition of land;

• have new or different effects on local residents or businesses; or

• any additional implications in respect of habitats regulations assessment.

Therefore, PPL considers that the proposed changes are non-material in nature.

A copy of the NMC3 application and its accompanying documents are available for inspection, free of charge, via the Planning Inspectorate's website at the below address until at least the end of the consultation period referred to below:

Planning Inspectorate website (documents tab):

https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010060/documents

If you require a hard copy of the NMC3 application and its accompanying documents (for example, because you do not have access to a computer and are unable to view the documents on PINS' website), you can request hard copies by contacting PPL at Jenny.Blyth@drax.com or on 07934 299 525. Each hard copy is available at the cost of £20 per copy.

Any representation about the NMC3 must be made by email to: progresspower@planninginspectorate.gov.uk or in writing to: National Infrastructure Planning, the Planning Inspectorate, c/o Quadient, 69 Buckingham Avenue, Slough, SL1 4PN

Please quote the reference EN010060 on any correspondence. Consultation responses will be published on the relevant project page of the National Infrastructure Planning website.

Please note that representations must be received by the Planning Inspectorate by 11:59pm on 9 September 2026.

PROGRESS POWER LIMITED

5 August 2026

¹ It is noted that this part of Work No. 7 was intended to be temporary as provided for in Part 2 of Schedule 3 of the Order.