Electricity grid connection challenges

Getting a connection to the electricity grid, import as well as export, has become increasingly challenging. When such things hit mainstream media you know its either a ‘no news’ kind of day or its become a big problem. In our experience it’s the latter and has been for a long time; especially since the rush for renewables stimulated by a range of subsidies resulted in much of the existing grid capacity being allocated on what was essentially a ‘first come first served’ basis.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65500339

The following are two projects we have been involved in recently:

1 - Connection offer secured but…

A relatively modest (<5MW) import/export connection offer was secured, accepted and deposit paid. 5 months later we were contacted by the DNO essentially saying that based on other projects in the area, due to National Grid constraints it was unlikely that we would be able to energise either import or export until… wait for it… 2035. And whilst it was highly likely to apply to this specific project they still didn’t yet know for sure.

2 – Connection ‘surgery’

If you can book a connection surgery with your DNO, they can sometimes be really helpful. They can be more of a two-way conversation than you might get by simply submitting an application and might yield a quick ‘no chance’ or a ‘maybe if you change this aspect’.

In this case, the preliminary discussion essentially said the application had no chance until 2030 at the absolute earliest. Whilst we did at least get an early heads-up in this case we still went ahead with the application because we wanted to ‘get in the queue’ in case things change.

Its not just renewables!

Whilst the news headlines focussed on renewables and Net Zero, this also impacts businesses that are simply looking to expand or build new sites. Now more than ever, securing a grid connection can be pivotal to any project / expansion plan and is arguably even less predictable than getting planning permission.

Where do we fit into this?

Its no longer simply a case of ‘ask for what you want and you get it’; we work on a range of high level energy demand / management scenarios with our clients. This means we are ready to discuss alternative approaches with the DNO.

But with the increased complexity of G99, G100, ANM and even something called SWAN we tend to work alongside HV electrical engineers who know their MVArs, kA etc. way better than we do!