Planning and consultation process

The Development Consent Order process

Proposals to develop a new low carbon power station at Connah’s Quay are at a very early stage. We have recently submitted a Development Consent Order (DCO) application to the Planning Inspectorate, following a process of consultation and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including national agencies, local authorities, businesses, community groups and local residents.

We undertook an initial programme of consultation from 26 February to 25 March 2024 followed by Statutory Consultation from 8 October to 19 November 2024. From Thursday 8 May to Friday 6 June 2025, we conducting a further consultation, specifically about a design change, technically referred to as a ‘targeted consultation’.

The feedback received during all consultation phases has been reviewed and analysed to understand key themes and issues of importance. We appreciate the time given by everyone who shared their views.

On 5 August 2025, Connah’s Quay Low Carbon Power was selected by the Government for the Project Negotiation List (PNL) as part of the CCUS Cluster Sequencing programme.

A DCO consent application was submitted on 5 August. Following the DCO application submission, the Planning Inspectorate completed its review and confirmed that it has been accepted for examination on 28 August. The project will now move into the pre-examination phase, which is expected to take approximately three to four months from the date of acceptance.

If consented, the new power station is expected to be developed in two phases; with roughly half its eventual capacity of low carbon power delivered in phase one, and later expansion up to a maximum of 1.38GW. Phase one could potentially be operational by 2030.

The Development Consent Order consenting timeline

How we will use your feedback and next steps

The feedback received during all consultation phases has been reviewed and analysed to understand key themes and issues of importance. The views expressed by all stakeholders, along with the outcomes of environmental assessments and technical studies, have been carefully considered and where possible, have informed our plans for the project.

A Consultation Report has been produced as part of our DCO application, which has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. This document sets out how the feedback from the consultation has shaped and influenced the final proposals. The Report can be downloaded from the ‘Document Library’ here.

All feedback responses submitted during our Non-Statutory, Statutory and Targeted Consultations have been addressed within the Consultation Report and anonymised version included within the document.

The project is now in the pre-examination phase, which is expected to take approximately three to four months from acceptance. Details about this phase of the consenting process can be found in the Planning Inspectorate’s guidance titled ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects: The stages of the NSIP process and how you can have your say’, which is available on the Planning Inspectorate’s National Infrastructure Consenting website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nationally-significant-infrastructure-projects-the-stages-of-the-nsip-process-and-how-you-can-have-your-say.