The National Energy System Operator (NESO), Energy Networks Association (ENA) and network operators,\u00a0have confirmed more than half (58%) of connection offers for projects in the 2030 pipeline have been issued.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The connection offers to ready-to-go energy projects,\u00a0including\u00a0offshore and onshore wind, solar, battery storage, gas and\u00a0hydro,\u00a0amount to\u00a037GW of\u00a0new\u00a0electricity\u00a0capacity.<\/p>\n
It comes with a\u00a0new pipeline of deliverable\u00a0projects\u00a0replacing the \u2018first come, first served\u2019\u202fsystem that led to bottlenecks and delays, the organisations said.<\/p>\n
So far, 713 of the 1,223 projects in the 2030 pipeline have received offers.\u00a0These set\u00a0out\u00a0when and where\u00a0projects\u00a0can connect, and what\u202fenabling upgrades are needed\u202fon the transmission and distribution\u202fnetworks. \u00a0<\/p>\n
In total, the projects supported by\u00a0this process\u00a0could help unlock up to \u00a340bn of annual clean energy investment, the organisations added,\u00a0\u201csupporting economic growth\u00a0while\u00a0helping deliver a system that is reliable,\u202fclean\u202fand affordable\u00a0for\u00a0consumers\u201d.<\/p>\n
Connections reform has replaced a system where\u202fviable\u202fprojects were delayed by those that were not ready. Over five years, the connections queue grew significantly\u00a0to over\u00a0twice\u00a0the capacity Britain needs\u202fto achieve net\u202fzero by 2050.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Projects must now meet stricter criteria, including securing planning permission, land\u00a0rights\u00a0and alignment with the government\u2019s clean energy ambitions.<\/p>\n
Kayte O\u2019Neill, Chief Operating Officer of NESO, said:\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s milestone shows connections reform is delivering\u202freal results. By working closely with network companies, we\u202fare cutting delays and helping ready-to-build projects connect faster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese offers give developers the certainty they need to invest, supporting economic growth. They also help\u00a0deliver\u00a0the reliable,\u202fclean\u202fand affordable energy system Britain needs.\u202fWith over half of offers\u00a0made, we\u202fare\u00a0focused on\u202fthe next\u202fphase of\u202fdelivery.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While NESO\u00a0has led on\u00a0issuing\u00a0offers\u00a0to\u00a0projects wanting to connect to the\u00a0high-voltage\u00a0transmission network,\u00a0offers to those wishing to connect to the lower-voltage distribution network has been led by\u00a0distribution network operators.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lawrence Slade, Chief Executive of Energy Networks Association, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the networks\u2019 Connections Action Plan, network operators have worked closely with NESO,\u202fcustomers\u202fand the wider industry to move away from\u00a0the\u00a0previous system, helping to introduce\u00a0one\u00a0that prioritises connection ready and strategically important projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis milestone is significant and networks are already focused on the next stage of delivery. While there is more to do, electricity networks are committed to further accelerating grid connections and continuing to engage with customers and stakeholders.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Energy\u202fMinister Michael Shanks said:\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUpgrading the grid and making it easier for clean power projects to connect to it will help protect billpayers from fossil fuel price spikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis milestone is a landmark step in putting connections reform into action \u2013 with offers issued to over 700 shovel-ready projects that will help to bring down bills for good with clean energy that we control.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The news comes as the ENA sponsors the Energy Network Innovation Project of the Year at the recently announced Transport + Energy Awards<\/a>. You can find out more<\/a> and enter the awards here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Image courtesy of Shutterstock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Energy System Operator (NESO), Energy Networks Association (ENA) and network operators,\u00a0have confirmed more than half (58%)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21249],"tags":[29130,234,28258,2580,9705],"class_list":["post-59961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national-grid","tag-ena","tag-energy","tag-grid-connections","tag-national-grid","tag-neso"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116725328360554029","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}