Renewable energy in the UK: the long wait for grid connections must end

For the British, the queue goes against the grain. But first-come, first-served is a poor way to deal with the multitude of renewable energy projects seeking to connect to the grid. With a backlog of 257 gigawatts, the queue is slowing the UK’s progress towards net zero. New applicants receive connection dates more than a decade in the future.

get a lot of renewable energies built and connected to the electricity grid is crucial if the UK is to achieve its goal of net zero electricity by 2035. in 2022. Future energy scenarios from National Grid suggest that Britain needs 123-147 GW of ‘by 2030. This means a huge acceleration in the pace of construction, especially for offshore solar and wind.

These figures also suggest that there are more than three times as many projects on hold as needed. Many exist in name only. The system operator, National Grid ESO, is aware of this problem. He tried to get zombies to leave the queue by removing the penalty for doing so, and is working to speed up the current login process. That probably won’t be enough.

To get projects up and running faster, one idea is to select those that are most likely to be built. Octopus Energy suggested the UK take a cue from Australia’s book, prioritizing connections to projects that have their permitting and funding in place. The network manager can also highlight areas where they have spare network capacity so eager developers can rush to build where they won’t need to wait for network reinforcements.

Such insertion into the queue is unlikely to be popular with projects that already have login dates. But other countries, such as Germany and France, already limit applications to projects with all their documents in place. Australia, which had a similar system to the UK, changed the rules. With such a monumental task ahead, the power system must break this deadlock.