By Tanya Weaver, Tue 30 Apr 2024
Electricity networks in England and Wales have enabled the grid connection offer dates of more than 200 clean energy projects to be brought forward under the National Grid’s Technical Limits acceleration programme.
There is an urgent need to revamp the electricity grid to support the increase in renewable energy projects.
The National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO) anticipates that Britain’s electricity needs will rise by nearly 65% by 2035 as heat and transport are increasingly electrified; however, this influx is putting pressure on the grid’s current capacity.
For that reason, in September 2023, the National Grid announced the Technical Limits acceleration programme. This collaborative effort between industry, Ofgem and government is allowing projects to connect to lower-voltage distribution networks prior to reinforcement of the high voltage transmission network.
Through this programme, the National Grid has announced that 203 projects totalling 7.8GW of clean energy, more than double the output of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, have had their connection offer dates brought forward by up to 10 years.
A further 190 projects will be eligible to receive accelerated offers once they have progressed through the connection offer process.
“We are delivering the biggest reforms to the network since the 1950s – allowing us to hook more renewables up to the grid so households and businesses can benefit from cleaner, cheaper electricity,” said the minister for energy security and net zero Justin Tomlinson.
The first project to benefit from the accelerated offer under the Technical Limits scheme was the Horsey Levels solar farm in Somerset. It was connected to the grid in March 2024, significantly ahead of its original planned connection date.
Alice Delahunty, president of National Grid Electricity Transmission, said: “The Technical Limits programme is a fantastic example of cross-industry collaboration. This team effort has delivered an innovative solution to connect schemes more quickly. We’re pleased to see the first project connect earlier than expected and look forward to many more.
“It forms part of a wider range of measures to help connect projects faster, including upgrading the grid – the biggest upgrade in a generation – and working collaboratively with industry, government and the regulator on reforms to the connections process.”
Earlier this month, the National Grid completed the installation of 116 T-pylons in Somerset as it builds out the infrastructure needed to connect Hinkley Point C to the grid. These T-pylons are the first major redesign of electricity pylons domestically since 1927.
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