Developing the SSEP together: transparency, collaboration and engagement

Alice Etheridge, Head of Strategic Spatial Energy Planning
Strategic planning 1 May 2026 - 3 minute read
Group of people collaborating working together

Last month we brought energy developers together for the latest Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) workshops. 

These sessions are part of our commitment to openness and meaningful engagement as we develop Great Britain’s first SSEP. They gave developers early visibility of our emerging work and a practical opportunity to shape it through real world insight.

At the workshops, we shared findings from the pathway development and modelling. By opening up this work while it is still evolving, we invited challenge on our assumptions and discussion on what can realistically be delivered. This feedback is essential. It helps ensure the SSEP reflects real-world constraints and opportunities, strengthening the plan’s credibility.

Since our developer days last year, industry engagement has focused on one key question: how can stakeholders see and influence our work while the plan is still being developed?

We have continued to test how open we can be, and how early, in ways that support constructive and informed input. The recent workshops were an important step in that approach.

How we engage with industry

Our engagement brings together different formats to support openness, consistency and depth as the analysis develops.

The Industry Working Group plays a central role, with around 40 members from trade associations, networks and academia providing ongoing input into both the SSEP and how we engage with industry.

Alongside this, open webinars help us reach a wider audience. Earlier this year, more than 400 people attended our technical webinar, which set out the SSEP framework and explained our modelling approach.

Developer workshops allow for deeper discussion on deliverability and real-world constraints. Last month, around 70 developers attended two further sessions, in person and online. We shared high level modelling insights and indicative capacity ranges to support discussion, while being clear about uncertainty and where analysis will continue to evolve. This openness has led to detailed, practical feedback that is helping to strengthen the pathway options so they are robust, clearly evidenced and credible to support the selection of a single pathway to become the SSEP.

Building transparency and trust

A consistent message from industry has been the need for clearer visibility of the SSEP’s data, assumptions and assurance.

In response, we have published two transparency updates setting out our data sources, what data can be shared publicly, our assurance processes, policy considerations and information on publication zones. Further updates are planned.

Transparency is not a one-off publication. It is an ongoing commitment. As the SSEP develops, we will continue to explain how the plan is evolving, where uncertainty remains and how stakeholder input is shaping our work.

We want stakeholders to understand the SSEP and to trust both the plan and the process behind it. Thank you to everyone who continues to engage and share thoughtful, constructive input as we develop the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.

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