Pay to jump grid connection queue, campaign urges

Projects should be allowed to jump the grid connection queue and the Future System Operator (FSO) given powers over Ofgem’s approval of transmission network investments, campaigners have urged.

In a new report, published on Monday (27 March), the recently established pro-sustainable growth campaign Britain Remade has outlined a wide-ranging set of reforms to achieve UK energy security by 2030.

The campaign says the build-out of the grid could be accelerated by adopting Texan-style Clean Energy Zones, where grid investments can be prioritised.

The FSO should be granted the power to direct Ofgem to approve investment in improving transmission network capacity, it says.

This would give a lead to the strategic needs of the system, as identified by the FSO.

And Ofgem should adopt a model based on Texas’ Competitive Renewable Energy Zones, which target transmission investments at areas where the least regulatory constraints on renewable development exist. Grid investments could be prioritised based on these new Clean Energy Zones.

The report also recommends a reform of the existing system, which requires transmission networks to grant a place in the queue for grid connection to projects on a first-come, first-serve basis regardless of the likelihood of whether they will actually progress.

Instead, the government should allow higher-value projects to bid so they can move to the front of the queue.

The report also calls for the government to publish a new National Policy Statement for energy networks which states the “clear overarching need” to reinforce the grid.

The reforms are required, according to the report, because the “scale of investment that is needed to upgrade the grid will not be deliverable under existing planning timeframes”.

Almost all of the up to 13 years it can take to deliver an offshore wind farm is spent in planning and waiting for grid connections, according to the report.

Within the proposed new Clean Power Zones, modelled on policies already in place in Spain, environmental impact assessments would be eliminated in all but exceptional cases for onshore wind, up to 75MW, and solar projects of 150MWs and under.

According to Britain Remade, the environmental impact assesments for the East Anglia Two offshore wind farm ran to 10,961 pages.

The report also calls for:

• De-risking investment in long duration storage through longer balancing contracts, a level playing field with gas peaker plants, and contracts that reward the wider benefits of the technology beyond spot prices
• Creation of a Clean Energy Taskforce modelled on a similar team in the Department for Transport, which discharges all planning conditions for road projects.
• Addressing staffing delays at key agencies such as Natural England and the Environment Agency, which can cause delays when processing applications for energy projects
• Cutting the statutory timescale for determining all clean energy projects, including nuclear, from 18 to 12 months
• Publishing a new siting strategy for nuclear energy
• Removing the requirement that planning applications for onshore wind farms should have unanimous support for and replace it with a Community Safeguard that would allow projects to go ahead, unless actively opposed by a majority of local residents
• An end to the need for planning permission to install solar panels on commercial and residential rooftops outside of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or conservation areas

Sam Richards, founder and campaign director for Britain Remade, said: “Britain’s byzantine planning system is simply not built to deliver the clean energy revolution our country needs.

“By speeding up the delivery of clean energy projects Britain will be energy secure by 2030, meaning we will no longer be reliant on expensive foreign gas, households will benefit from cheaper bills and tens of thousands of good quality jobs will be created across the country.

“But we cannot unleash the full potential of clean energy and enjoy the benefits until we reform our outdated planning system.

“The measures we’ve outlined would not only put rocket boosters under the delivery of new clean energy developments across Britain, but people that live near new energy infrastructure the benefit of lower bills- all while significantly boosting nature.

“Britain is the country that gave birth to the Industrial Revolution, split the atom and turned on the first commercial nuclear power station. There is no reason why we cannot be a clean energy superpower.”

Ed Miliband, shadow secretary of state for climate change and net zero, said: “This is exactly the kind of ambition we need to drive towards clean power by 2030. It can lower bills, make us more energy secure, create jobs and once again show global climate leadership. I urge all those serious about the green transition to show the scale of vision contained in this document. I look forward to building the broadest coalition to make it happen.”