Ofgem has approved a three-month extension to National Grid’s Two Step grid connection process but has expressed its disapproval at the delay.
The extension request was submitted by National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) on 14 February 2024 to extend both steps within the Two Step Process to issuing grid connection offers.
The energy regulator submitted a Letter of Support for the rime-limited Two Step Process in February 2023. The two steps are:
- Providing a connecting party with an interim offer, a position within the Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC), a point of connection and the latest year that it will be connected by.
- The connecting party received all the details it usually would as part of a connection offer to be issued before 1 March 2024.
According to Ofgem, its initial support of the process was given on the understanding that NGESO and NGET would implement new Construction Planning Assumptions (CPAs) to all parties in the TEC queue and provide a more realistic level of attrition to the TEC. The process was scheduled to conclude on 1 March 2024.
An influx of applications
Despite this, Ofgem has reported findings from NGESO and NGET that 500 applications have been received through the Two Step Process, totalling more than 150GW of new applications.
The “unprecedented volume” of applications has led to connection agreements to include provisions for “significant reinforcement works” such as new overhead lines (OHL) and substations that exceed those outlined in NGESO’s network plan for Britain’s electricity system to 2035 – the 2nd Transitional Centralised Strategic Network Plan (TCSNP2).
This means that the majority of parties would receive a later connection date than that offered in Step One, with no improvement on connection dates for the remainder of offers. “This is significantly below our expectations of what the Two Step Process would deliver,” wrote Ofgem.
To mitigate this, Ofgem has approved NGESO and NGET’s request for the two below extensions:
- Applications awaiting a Step Two offer: an extension to the deadline by which a customer will receive a Step Two offer of three months has been granted from 1 March 2024 to 1 June 2024.
- New applications received between 27 November 2023 and 29 February 2024: the clock start date will be delayed until 1 March 2024, which means all customers will receive their offers by 1 June 2024 to ensure customers already awaiting Step Two offers are prioritised.
According to NGESO and NGET the new process will see 60% of customers receive better or aligned connection dates compared to their Step One offer.
“We recognise that the unprecedented volume of new applications to connect to the transmission system has impacted the potential effectiveness of the Two Step Process.” wrote Ofgem.
“However, we would like to express our disappointment on the performance of NGESO and NGET, with regards to this process, in fulfilling their commitments and discharging their duties and obligations as licensees in relation to managing connections to the transmission system since our initial Letter of Support was issued in February 2023.”
