Independent UK specialist grid consultancy, Roadnight Taylor has announced a surge in demand for its due diligence service that helps investors understand the grid connection risks in the projects they are acquiring. Since August 2023, the firm has experienced a 583% growth in its due diligence service, highlighting both the rise in transaction volumes in the UK, and the expanding market for expertise such as Roadnight Taylor’s.
Through providing due diligence Roadnight Taylor’s specialist connections engineers (Connectologists) can help identify hidden issues that might delay the date on which projects start generating revenue, restrict capacity, or prevent revenue generation once connected. Their specialist insight can also uncover problems which add significant cost to the connection.
Hugh Taylor, CEO of Roadnight Taylor, attributes the growth to the uplift in requests from investors in solar and BESS projects, as well as wind farms, and also the significant increase in transmission connected schemes, saying, “If a project is delayed or disconnected because of an unforeseen grid connection problem, then that’s often going to be costing the developer or investor millions in lost revenue after it has made the lion’s share of its investment. The sizeable numbers can tie development or asset management teams in knots for months, and has the potential for collateral damage, reputationally.”
Paul Bennett, Head of Consents at Centrica Business Solutions said, “The timing and reliability of any renewables project’s grid connection is fundamental to its ability both to begin and continue generating income, and to deliver Net Zero. With the levels of investment in individual schemes being in the tens and hundreds of millions – and the connections landscape becoming increasingly congested and complex – our requirement for an extreme depth of expertise in connections due diligence has grown alongside our appetite to acquire quality projects.”
Taylor said, “When developers or investors are looking to acquire projects, they want to be able to understand the values, the potential pitfalls and the key risks associated with the project before they acquire it. Ultimately, will the scheme you are buying match your expectations and the price you are paying for it?”
Roadnight Taylor helps its clients, such as global brands Octopus Renewables, Centrica, Ørsted, Diageo, Amazon and Aldi, to overcome the stubborn and costly grid connections barriers to their mission critical energy and decarbonisation projects. Watch the company’s latest webinar on due diligence here Webinar: Top 10 lessons learnt from red flag due diligence.
