Today the BBC reported that the UK has around £200billion worth of renewable energy projects stuck in the queue to be connected to the grid. This will come as no surprise to anyone working in the renewable energy sector. In fact, it is the latest in a long line of reports stating what most of us already know.
According to National Grid’s own estimates there are about 600 projects with combined capacity of 176GW in the queue in England and Wales, against 64GW of connected capacity.
The lack of grid capacity resulting in long and costly delays to project development is undoubtedly threatening investment and impacting Britain’s ambitions to target a decarbonised electricity system by 2035 as part of the wider 2050 net zero goal.
The grid, the transmission network connecting electricity generators to electrical substations, was designed to accommodate a small number of large-scale fossil fuel generators such as coal-fired power plants. National Grid says it has historically had 40-50 applications for connections a year but this has risen to more than 600 per year as renewables suppliers have proliferated. Despite National Grid’s ambitions to invest +£9billion in upgrading connections, it has struggled to keep up with the pace of change to reflect UK’s more diverse range of electricity suppliers.
The necessary regulatory reform and transformation of the existing system won’t be quick. It also tends to be politicised and unnecessarily cumbersome. I am however a fan of industry led change which is why I welcomed Octopus Energy’s 5 point plan released earlier this month. Octopus Energy says it recognises that there are long term systemic solutions needed, and in parallel they put forward the following proposals to clear the ‘gridlock’:
1. Proactive “queue jumping” to connect more advanced renewable projects: viable projects that already have secured land, funding, environmental surveys planning consent etc, should jump ahead to connect.
2. Enforce cancellation of grid connection offers sat dormant on the system for a certain time, freeing up capacity.
3. Creating national development ‘zones’ renewables with quicker planning and grid connection timeframes.
4. Increase competition in the grid connection process: currently one entity holds the cards. Other markets like Italy, Poland and Greece have enabled a free market for grid connections, which can enable more competition and drive speed.
5. Greater collaboration between developers – pooling knowledge and experience.
No one is shocked to hear that there are delays in securing grid connections for renewables projects. MRY Renewables is currently working with a number of clients who are facing these issues, both on distribution and transmission connected assets. It is refreshing to see some genuine momentum to do something to address the problem.