The Renewable Energy Association (REA) is calling on the government to deliver a “coherent national strategy” for the future of the grid in the UK.
The association has outlined concerns that the UK’s ageing grid infrastructure could be limiting renewable capacity deployment both now and in the future.
Launching a report issued by both the REA and KPMG which outlined how solar can be the UK’s first subsidy-free renewable energy source, the REA identified the grid as one of its key 10 action plans to ensure solar reaches grid parity.
The association is pushing for “a speedy review” of the grid infrastructure “to see whether the grid can take additional renewable capacity without reinforcement.”
The association is critical of the current “piecemeal” approach to grid reinforcement which has “severely restricted the growth of solar”.
Speaking to Next Energy News, Nina Skorupska CEO of the REA said: “The grid issue is a real concern for all of our members, in particular Solar PV. It’s fundamental to nearly all forms of renewable energy.”
Skorupska added that the association is holding a special meeting of its members which will work to flesh out the myriad issues created by the state of the grid.
The KPMG-authored report notes that the UK’s distributed network operators (DNOs) proved that they could connect significant renewable capacity in short order, facilitating the connection of over 2GW of PV capacity in one quarter. But the report warns that “network capacity is already starting to impede PV connections in certain parts of England, contributing to a rising trend for grid connection costs, especially for larger ground-mounted projects”.
Looking out to the future, the REA recommends that Ofgem monitors closely whether the DNOs are meeting their agreed deliverables under the regulatory price control framework to incentivise outcomes and innovation (RIIO). However, the eight-year timeline of the framework provides an extremely long period for change to take place which will impact the grid’s approach to renewable integration.
