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Electricity Connections. Simplified.
Electricity Connections. Simplified.
It’s no secret that the lengthy queue of development projects waiting for connections to electricity distribution and transmission networks has been a major concern for quite some time. Severe delays are putting developments at risk as investment walks away from projects that may not secure connections for five-plus years.
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has recognised that a ‘first in the queue, first served’ policy, and little governance over joining the connections queue, is a major problem. It has been inviting consultations and running working groups to find solutions to break the gridlock.
In a continually changing landscape, the latest Grid Connections Reforms, originally scheduled for implementation in January 2025 are likely to be delayed until Q2 2025. This is partly as a result of findings from a request for information (RfI) issued by the NESO in July 2024, which found that many technologies like batteries and PV far exceeded the requirements for the most optimistic decarbonisation forecasts. While this is a great vote of confidence in the UK power market, it suggests that it needs reining in a bit to avoid overheating.
This has given rise to the call for Clean Power 2030, brought in by the new Government and OFGEM to provide an action plan. Clean Power 2030 is an initiative set up to help accelerate the mission to decarbonise the UK’s electricity grid.
This is a natural evolution from the Mission Control for Clean Power announced in July 2024. It’s early days, and so inevitably there is still uncertainty about how the action plan with shape up. However, eight key industry and academic advisors have been appointed, and we are looking forward to the action plan.
It’s clear that connections reform is very much a moving feast. In the meantime, projects still need to be connected. It’s like trying to fix an aircraft while it’s in flight. There’s no way of stopping everything, resetting and going again. Fixes and reforms have to take place in a live operating environment, and they inevitably give rise to the next set of reforms.
That said, progress is being made, albeit in small steps, and many different players in the power industry are being listened to. That includes IDNOs like Eclipse Power.
Eclipse Power has taken an active role in key working groups for reforming the industry codes that underpin the whole electricity and gas wholesale and retail markets. We are helping shape one of the code areas, Connection and Use of Systems Code (CUSC), within which is a number of steering and working groups that Eclipse Power is part of.
I participate in working group CMP435 – officially the ‘application of Gate 2 Criteria to existing contracted background’. This is the working group charged with modifying existing processes to allow existing viable projects that are closer to being ready to progress to connections than others.
Eclipse Power is also represented on CMP434 by our Senior Regulatory Analyst, Bill Scott. This group is exploring the wholesale revision of the connections process for new projects, to meet net zero targets and the needs of project developers and consumers.
The outcomes of both working groups will enable projects that are most ready to progress more rapidly to connection – a welcome reform from the ‘first in the queue, first served’ system. The Clean Power 2030 proposals are being worked into these existing code modifications and added to the Connections Reform. Essentially, this will involve quotas of technology types in each area to meet the 2030 and 2035 forecasts. So, even if a project has met Gate 2, it might still not be able to connect until a later date if it falls outside of the quota. Also being considered is the introduction of additional costs to secure capacity, including a floor on security payments until a financial investment decision is reached. This floor is currently £20k/MW.
In the meantime, as we wait for the next iteration of the connections reform to come into play, projects need to secure power connections. By participating in CMP 435 – reforms for the existing queue and CMP 434 – reforming the processes for new applications, Eclipse Power Solutions is continuing to offer informed and pragmatic advice to help customers get their projects ready to progress to connection.
My advice to anyone with a current or future connection requirement is to get your Gate 2 criteria ready to go, which could enable advancement to move up the queue. Gate 2 criteria includes having land rights (or an option to lease or purchase) and a pathway to submit planning by an agreed date. The timeframes are two years to secure planning for town and country planning, three if the project classifies as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP).
I would caution that there is still some uncertainty around what the criteria / methodologies are for being in Gate 2. Personally, I would like there to be greater transparency around the discussions so that we can advocate for our customers more and ensure that what people are being told about the connections queue and processes is correct. This concern really stems from the customer-focused mindset we have at Eclipse Power. After all, many of us come from a developer background, and we know what we would want to be told in the developer’s position.
In summary, there is a great deal happening in the world of connections reform. It’s very much an iterative process. The actual steps forward may be small, but they are being taken carefully and involve consultations with multiple stakeholders to ensure that they provide the firm foundation necessary to take the UK’s energy grid forward to a net zero future.
IDNO’s have played a vital role in challenging the notion of ‘business as usual’, as that simply won’t allow the pace or direction of reform that is urgently required.
At Eclipse Power, our strength is getting good projects connected and seeing them succeed, which is all part of our belief in the mission to decarbonise the electricity system. Rest assured, we will continue to keep our customers and others updated on developments in connections reform.
You can find a handy summary of how to navigate the upcoming changes here. But in the meantime, the ‘too long; didn’t read’ message is ‘change is happening, it will be for the best, but it will take time. We’ll be here to help you navigate the changes – whatever they may be.’