NESO has announced the updated timeline for overhauling Great Britain's electricity grid connections process. This plan will fast-track shovel-ready clean energy projects, prioritising those projects that are essential for the 2030 Clean Power target, and will provide certainty to investors, unlocking an estimated annual £40 billion in economic growth and thousands of high-skilled jobs.
Developed in close collaboration with Government, Ofgem, and network companies, this roadmap provides delivery dates for developers, reducing project risk and enabling customers and investors to plan with confidence for a reliable, low-carbon grid.
Key details
- To help us move at pace to deliver connections reform, the updated timeline does not include fixed deadlines but instead sets out latest dates that we are committed to delivering by. This creates the flexibility to enable the appropriate focus on data quality and assurance.
- Wherever possible, we’ll aim to meet milestones ahead of the given ‘latest by’ date, recognising the importance of timely delivery given the scale of customer investment.
- We know delays have caused real inconvenience and expense, and we’re committed to minimising further disruption.
- Following on from the issues customers faced with our evidence submission portal, we’ve listened to customers and built in their feedback to the next phase of delivering connections reform.
- Today, customers will be able to see milestones on the remaining reform timelines, giving them the certainty they need to make investment decisions and move projects forward with confidence.
Impact on key energy programmes
This roadmap will also safeguard key programmes like Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions and the Regional Energy System Plan (RESP) for the future delivery of critical energy projects.
Next steps
NESO and the DNOs will begin communicating directly with customers on which projects have been successful in securing a place in the reformed connections queue from December this year, before starting to issue revised connection offers from December, prioritising those protected projects that are due to connect in 2026 and 2027. Following this, NESO will begin delivering the 2030 and 2035 offers next year.
Kayte O’Neill, Chief Operating Officer, NESO, said:
'Today NESO sets out the updated timeline to deliver connections offers to our customers as we continue the transformation of our electricity network. It is a crucial move towards achieving clean power by 2030 and will help drive economic growth across Great Britain.
By focusing on agreements for projects that are both critical for 2030 and ready to proceed, developers gain the certainty needed to make investment decisions.'
Source: NESO (National Energy System Operator)
