National Grid (NG) has set out a five-point plan to speed up the process of connecting renewable energy generators to the UK’s transmission system.

Connection delays of up to 10 years have become a frequent source of complaint from listed renewable energy funds, particularly those behind battery storage systems, who say the issue could jeopardise the UK’s drive to reach ‘net zero’ carbon emissions.

Britain requires a minimum of 123 gigawatts (GW) of low carbon transmission generation by 2030 to be on target for net zero, 83GW of which is already connected and 257GW contracted for future connection.

‘While lockdowns and supply chain issues caused constraints in recent times, the main bottleneck today is in the slow rate of grid connection activity, impacting the industrywide deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS),’ said Ben Guest, manager of the largest battery fund, Gresham House Energy Storage (GRID ).

The huge volume of applications to connect, boosted by the increasing numbers of renewable generators in recent years, has been hindered by severe understaffing at both the NG and district network operators (DNOs) as well as a lack of investment in the infrastructure. 

‘We’re slightly the victims of our own success in that we’ve ramped up project pipelines much quicker than a lot of people expected us to,’ said Jonathan Selwyn, managing director at Bluefield Development, the in-house team behind Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF ). ‘It’s fair to say that the DNOs and NG have been inundated with applications from many different development players in the market.’

The 6%-dividend yielder has a portfolio of mostly solar energy assets but has a mandate to put 25% of assets into alternative technologies, such as batteries and onshore and offshore wind. Currently, it has 424 megawatts of battery storage due to be connected to the grid over the next two years.

Writing in The Times last week, Julian Leslie, head of connection at National Grid – Electricity System Operator, said 30%-40% of projects in the queue make it to fruition because it operates on a first-come, first-served basis, holding up those at the back who might be more readily able to supply power.

‘To unlock our low-carbon future we need to change the way people can connect to the grid,’ Leslie said. The new plans came into effect on 1 March.

NG intends to operate a transmission entry capacity amnesty until April, allowing developers to terminate their connection contracts without incurring liabilities. This in turn will free up queue capacity.

It will also update its modelling assumptions to reflect current connection rates, reducing the assumption that most projects in the queue will connect.

NG is changing the treatment of energy storage, such as batteries, on the network to allow them to connect faster and free up capacity for other projects. The UK needs at least 20GW of battery energy storage systems (BESS) to hit net zero targets, 2.1GW of which is operational, according to data from the energy association RenewableUK.

It is developing new contractual terms for connection contracts to manage the queue more efficiently so that those projects that are progressing can connect and those that are not can leave the queue.

Finally, NG will offer an interim option for storage projects to connect to the network sooner, with the caveat that they may be required to turn off more frequently when the system is under stress without initially being paid to do so.

Planning reforms in the Energy Security Strategy must also be delivered to accelerate the infrastructure development needed to connect to the grid, Leslie said.

‘We very much welcome NG’s commitment to improve and refine the current connections process,’ Selwyn said. ‘In particular, the potential to open up new capacity and speed up connections is vital if we are to meet the country’s net-zero targets. We look forward to the opportunity for the renewables sector, NG and the district network operators (DNO) to work together constructively to achieve these objectives.’ 

Others have said the proposal is not radical enough, suggesting the NG should assume a higher proportion of the queue will never come to fruition.

As it is a first come, first served basis, they have also recommended a separate queue for renewable assets that have already been given planning permission as a means to reaching net zero targets more quickly. 

Many renewable assets are blocked from grid connection by projects paying milestones, or monthly installments, to maintain their place in the queue.