Octopus Energy has published a report outlining what needs to be done to speed up green energy grid connections. Ending the Gridlock: One Year On builds on a May 2023 “call to arms” published by the energy company.
The End the Gridlock paper highlighted the connections gridlock and called on developers, networks and the government to acknowledge and address the issue. One year on, it has been recognised as a mission-critical challenge for net zero.
The new report makes more detailed recommendations for change, updating those made in the initial report, and sets next steps for developers, network companies and the government and Ofgem.
It says all network connection data should be standardised and published as a priority during summer 2024. Octopus wants transparency at the heart of the new connection process; it envisions an open-source, self-serve process to enable better network analysis so the best use of grid capacity is made.
High-quality projects should be prioritised. Moving away from “first-come, first-served” connections is a likely part of grid connections reform, but Octopus argues that e new connections process will need to evolve quickly to prioritise the ‘highest quality’ projects.
In the report, Octopus states that the lengthy connection queue is caused by slow connections and speculative project applications that will never connect – what it calls “zombies”.
According to the report, market reform is also critical, and increased competition and incentives to open up capacity should be provided.
The recommended actions that the report lays out should all be “underpinned by strong governance that enables leadership and decisive action, coupled with strong regulatory incentives for the network companies to act”.
The two key enablers to the suggestions in the report are strong governance and real incentives.
The report says: “Moving forward, we need transparency through clear actions and success indicators published for all developers and investors to understand. Ultimate accountability for progress should be placed on a Minister and CEO level forum, with the power to make change happen at pace.”
It further says it is up to Ofgem to set the “strong financial incentives” to drive urgency and action. Reformed incentives must be clearly linked to customer value, driving performance in the new process and strong enough to incentivise change.
“Current momentum for reform represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to future-proof our grid for net zero. Let’s take this chance to turn the UK into a renewable powerhouse and secure the benefits of abundant cheap, green power for everyone.”
Speaking on the report, Alison Miles, senior development project manager at Gridsource, said: “GB should be taking a more preemptive approach to network investment to unblock this crisis. Project connections should be assessed in a strategic way, with investments sequenced to optimise planning, procurement and minimise the amount of disruption needed over the long term.”