Serving 20 million customers across London, southern England and east Anglia, the DNO says it has used the ‘Technical Issues’ collaborative programme between netcos to speed  up 25 new generation projects on its patch.

A total of 836MW of new capacity can now connect as soon as the projects are built, says the DNO, cutting waiting times in some cases by years.

As the netcos’ response to fury from developers facing connection delays in some cases of a decade or more, ‘Technical Issues’ works by offering solar-, wind-farm and battery hook-ups at supply nodes to lower voltage regional DNO grids, and before necessary reinforcements can be made to the NG’s higher voltage national transmission system.

Algorithmic routing then eases the likelihood of pinch points being overloaded at times of highest demand or highest generation, cutting the chances of wasteful, expensive ‘curtailment’ of the new assets’ output.

A relaxation of restrictive practices, in other words, while maintaining safety, and all achieved over what grid operators know as their Distributed Energy Resource Management (DERMS) platform.

UKN says it is also taking a ‘leading role’ in the Strategic Connections Group led by industry body the Energy Networks Association.

UKPN customers it cites as having benefitted from speedier connection offers include a 98MW solar farm in East Anglia and a 100MW combined storage and solar site in the South East.

They are among 14 projects in East Anglia totalling 465MW and a further 11 ventures in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, totalling 371MW. That volume of new generation amounts to roughly one fifth of the peak demand of the London distribution network.

Giles Frampton of developer Evolution Power said one of its solar farms can now connect four years earlier than planned.

“Working closely with UK Power Networks, we have been able to bring forward a solar PV project’s connection date by four years, which will significantly contribute to the UK’s progress towards Net Zero and Energy Security, whilst also driving down the cost of electricity for both domestic and industrial consumers”, said Frampton.

UKPN’s director of DSO Sotiris Georgiopoulos  said: “We’re taking real, tangible action to help our customers overcome the long-term challenges on the national transmission system, an approach that is ultimately going to get more green energy into more people’s homes and businesses.

“This is just another step on our journey, and it is only by co-operation and collaboration that we’re able to make such important strides towards achieving Net Zero.”

The post Now UKPN trumpets its speed-up of new renewables connections appeared first on theenergyst.com.

Renewable energy projects totalling 7.8GW in new capacity – more than double that of the still uncompleted Hinkley Point C nuclear plant – , have had their offer dates brought forward by as much as a decade, thanks to the Technical Limits programme.

The programme allows solar, wind and other generators to hook into lower voltage distribution grids of up to 133kV, even before reinforcements are completed to national transmission networks, which operate at between 220kV and 440kV.

According to the National Grid, network operators have this year sent offers to 203 projects totalling 7.8GW, achieving what NG claims is an average connection shortening of 6.5 years.

In total 393 projects are eligible for Technical Limits with the further 190 projects able to receive accelerated offers once they have progressed through the connection offer process.

Last month Horsey Levels, a solar farm near Bridgwater, pictured, became the first project to be energised under the scheme. A PV park generating for a notional 10,000 homes, Horsey Levels was connected to National Grid’s distribution network ahead of its original planned connection date.

Strenuously urged on foot-dragging netcos by developers, Ofgem and ministers, the ‘Technical Limits’ regime represents unprecedented collaboration between NG Electricity Transmission, the Energy Networks Association, the Electricity System Operator and regional DNOs.

Scottish Transmission & Distribution network owners have also been involved in developing the Technical Limits programme and are in the process of rolling out the programme in their licence areas.

Welcoming the NG’s announcement, Justin Tomlinson MP, Graham Stuart’s recent replacement as D-ESNZ minister of state, said:

“Thanks to a team effort, over 200 clean energy projects will be connected to our grid earlier. It means thousands of homes and businesses will be powered by more renewable energy generated in Britain.

We are delivering the biggest reforms to the network since the 1950s – allowing us to hook more renewables up to the grid so households and businesses can benefit from cleaner, cheaper electricity,” Tomlinson added.

By agreeing new limits on maximum power flow, DNOs have been able to offer their chosen projects an accelerated connection date, sometimes before reinforcements are made to the 144kV transmission network are completed.

Advanced connections carry an obligation on a site’s developers that the DNO can limit flows from the project under certain operating conditions.

The 203 connection offers that have been issued in the first phase have an average export curtailment of 22% per year. Parties expect that in the long term these interim arrangements will be replaced as network capacity increases.

Alice Delahunty, President of National Grid Electricity Transmission added: “Connecting projects to our transmission network, and unlocking capacity at lower voltage distribution networks, is a massive priority for us.

“The Technical Limits programme is a fantastic example of cross-industry collaboration. This team effort has delivered an innovative solution to connect schemes more quickly. We’re pleased to see the first project connect earlier than expected and look forward to many more”.

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National Grid Electricity System Operator (NG-ESO) has offered Birkhill Wood, a proposed new 400kV substation in Yorkshire’s East Riding, to link Dogger Bank’s power into the national backbone.  The offer to development partners SSE Renewables and Equinor comes as part of NG-ESO’s Great Grid Upgrade.

Its announcement follows the ESO’s recent publication of its impact assessment of all intended marine turbines in the North Sea’s South Cluster, relating to energy projects needing connections into transmission backbones.

In October the first of Dogger Bank’s 277 turbines began pumping power ashore.  Sited at their closest 70 nautical miles off Yorkshire, the four phases are scheduled for completion in 2026.

With the location of a grid connection confirmed, Dogger Bank D will now focus its full attention on connecting to the electrical transmission system.

The project is also exploring the future possibility of the development of Dogger Bank D to be coordinated with an Offshore Hybrid Asset between the UK and another European country’s electricity market to form a multi-purpose interconnector.

This option would increase energy security for the UK and reduce the need to curtail offshore wind output in times of oversupply on the GB network.

The project team are now choosing sites for routing cables, assessing where other land-based infrastructure serving Birkhill Wood’s grid connection may be sited.  Community consultations will follow later this year.

With a connection location now confirmed by the ESO, SSE and Equinor have confirmed’s they’re stepping back from their alternative option, namely directing Dogger Bank D’s power towards producing green hydrogen. The duo had presented the clean gas as a possibility when first presenting the project early last year.

Following public consultations last year, the developers intend publishing later this month a project update for Dogger Bank D.

The post Dogger Bank 4 offered Birkhill Wood as connection point appeared first on theenergyst.com.

One regional distribution operator, Northern Powergrid, has been accused of foot-dragging on a grid connection, after being unable to improve on a twelve-year wait to hook up one developer’s battery project.

Solar park builder Enviromena has taken the unusual step of issuing a public statement, accusing the DNO of “stifling” investment. The developer accuses Northern Powergrid of jeopardising the viability of its unbuilt farm at West Sleekburn, Northumberland.

Enviromena says its 30MW battery addition to the plant received planners’ approval in October 2022. But after talks, the DNO now can guarantee no grid connection date for the intended battery before October 2036.

According to the developer, Northern Powergrid indicated in discussions last year that its grid supply point at Blyth might enable an earlier connection, possibly available under the DNO’s Delegated Technical Limits programme.

The developer had hoped to confirm that earlier connection date before Christmas. But Northern Powergrid later told it that the Blyth hub had been removed from the DNO’s programme of accelerated connections, due to technical reasons. The developer says the grid company can commit to no alternative before the already stated deadline twelve years from now.

Enviromena CEO’s Chris Marsh said in a statement: “We are extremely disappointed with the latest delay, which has left a key project without a feasible connection date despite being ready to construct.

“The North East is enjoying a renaissance for clean energy as it emerges as a key hub for renewables, Marsh went on.

“The actions of Northern Powergrid go directly against the Government’s wider agenda to move away from fossil fuels and achieve carbon Net Zero goals by 2050 and it is stifling investment in the area. The delay represents a major setback.”

He added: “We submitted details to Northern Powergrid demonstrating our West Sleekburn project was ready for an earlier connection with both planning and land rights in place.

“The site is ready to provide much-needed storage facilities for cleaner energy. I would urge Northern Powergrid to re-focus their efforts on resolving the issues at Blyth and kickstarting accelerated connections in the area.

“We have seen other network operators across the country accelerate connection dates by as much as thirteen years in recent weeks and we hope a similar resolution can be found for the Sleekburn project.”.

Marsh cited the National Grid’s estimates that Britain will need over 25GW of battery storage, up from 1GW today, if it is to decarbonise the nation’s grid by 2035.

Reading-based Enviromena last month announced it was about to submit a total of 400MWp new unbuilt PV farm proposals for planners’ consideration, en route to an intended 500MWp goal next year.

Responding in a statement, Northern Powergrid confirmed the developer’s account.  The operator said it was working hard to bring forward connection dates for customers with schemes delayed by constraints on the transmission network owned and operated by National Grid.

The DNO commented: “Towards the end of last year, we announced that we would be issuing revised connections offers for some customers, made possible through a programme of delegated technical limits”.

“Customers looking to connect at a major substation at Blyth in Northumberland were included in the proposal for the first phase of this work.

“However, after further scrutiny by ourselves and National Grid, it will not be possible during this stage of the programme and so we’re re-evaluating what we can do to support customers looking to connect to this area of our network.

“We remain committed to working with our customers whose projects are impacted and to keeping them informed about the actions we are taking to accelerate grid connections in our region”.

This afternoon trade body SolarEnergyUK will present to MPs evidence of what it calls connection delays ‘descending into farce’.  Queues to connect to the grid, at both low and high voltage, now surpass 500GW, the group claims, citing a recent estimate by consultancy Roadnight Taylor.

Reforms such as the ‘Technical Limits’ programme, intended to deliver connections for big batteries and generating assets in advance of reinforcements to the transmission grid, would only be possible if output from the new supply assets was cut at source, DNOs have told Solar Energy UK said.

The most permissive limit seen by the body is 63%, in return for a connection date being brought forward by a year. In some cases, said the group, developers have been told that this limit is zero, with not a single solar-powered electron being allowed to flow.

Grid consultancy Novogrid has seen 50 such messages over the past three months, all with curtailment above 90%.

“You couldn’t make it up“, said SolarEnergy UK CEO Chris Hewett. “It is like being told you can open a shop on the High Street, as long as you keep the doors locked.

“This is bizarre behaviour“,  he added, “an apparent attempt by the DNOs to make it look like they are doing something while they still fail to invest in vital upgrades.”

Hewett will present this afternoon to the Commons’ environmental audit committee.  On the same topic also this afternoon, grid commissioner Nick Winser will answer MPs on the committee shadowing the D-ESNZ ministry.  Coverage begins at 14:00; click on the links to view a live TV feed.

The post MPs to hear solar developers’ complaints over NG’s and DNOs’ ‘farcical’ hook-up waits appeared first on theenergyst.com.

Over-reliance by the National Grid and Energy Systems Operator ESO on gas, not batteries, as a second-by-second system balancing operator underlies the battery investor’s current woes, it told investors yesterday.

Lengthy connection waits for big batteries and storage systems (BESS) drive the nation’s excessive gas dependency, the fund’s boss Ben Guest wrote, as GRD launched a buyback of its own share to safeguard working cash.

Restricting new installations to 2023’s capex budget is GRID’s short-term step to preserve fund value. With just over 1 MW scheduled for operation by September, GRID remains on track to double its installed base this year, Guest reassured shareholders.

“The rising need for BESS as renewable generation increases remains as true as ever,” Guest informed investors. “The revenue environment is expected to improve, as discussed in the Market update below, although there is some uncertainty on the timing and trajectory of such improvement.

New generators have long blamed operator inertia and planning rules for connection delays sometimes beyond ten years. In August, former NG boss Nick Winser’s report urged paying communities to accept new link-up sites as a step to speed hooking up the colossal 230 GW of link-less projects now in Britain’s pipeline.  Average waits might thus be halved, to seven years, the Energy Systems Catapult boss said.

GRID said it was also talking to its debt providers to reduce borrowing costs. As of December, it had drawn down just under one-third of its £350 million facility.

Brighter operational news sees the fund’s 50MW/50MWh plant at West Didsbury, Manchester operational since December. It was followed by a 50MW/76MWh project in York energised in last month.

A total of 340MW of projects are being also upgraded, of which 305MW will have a two-hour duration, said Guest.

The investment fund’s chair John Leggate CBE endorsed Guest’s view.

“The challenging environment continues to persist for the battery storage industry in Great Britain as it transitions to a trading-focused business model, having been focused on frequency response until Q1 2023. These conditions, and their effect on revenues, are not unique to GRID”.

The post Gas over-reliance & connection delays force Gresham House to drop dividend, buy back shares appeared first on theenergyst.com.

New trunk powerlines built in seven years rather than today’s benchmark fourteen are the vision offered this morning by the government.

Hunt and energy ministry D-ESNZ confirmed this morning that all 15 of Winser’s recommendations on accelerated access to transmission and distribution networks are to be enacted.

Under the Connections Action Plan, a related initiative presaged in yesterday’s Autumn Statement, typical connection waits standing today at five years could be slashed to as little as six months, ministers promise.

The government said the new money will be focused on network uprades and reinforcements closest to manufacturing hubs serving the key industries in Britain’s Net Zero transition.  A notional saving of £1,000 per year for factories close to hubs is suggested by ministers.

Weeding out multiple connection applications for a single new site will radically relieve, D-ESNZ officials believe, pressures to provide more hook-ups.   More holistic queue management should yield clarity and economy in readying Britain’s networks for multi-directional transmission of low carbon power.

Presaged in yesterday’s Autumn Statement, the new package is hoped to bring forward £90 billion of investment by 2033.

Energy security secretary Claire Coutinho said:    “We have set out the most radical plans to update the grid since the 1950s, speeding up connections and rapidly increasing capacity.

“As we move away from unreliable imports to cheaper, home-grown energy, we’re boosting the grid so that it can meet our expanding electricity needs which are expected to have doubled by 2050.

“We’ll also reward those living closest to new infrastructure with up to £1,000 a year off their energy bills, while communities will get at least £200,000 to spend on local projects that matter the most to them.”

For the National Grid, chief executive John Pettigrew welcomed the government’s “bold plans”.

He went on: “A spatial energy plan and accelerated planning consent will bring clarity, authority and urgency to what needs to be built and where. New community benefit proposals will ensure local people remain at the heart of the energy transition.

“The Connections Action Plan will deliver fundamental reforms needed to enable us to plug clean energy projects in faster, and build on the progress already being made.

“The intent is clear and welcome; now these plans must be implemented at pace to capture the economic opportunity of the energy transition and keep Britain on target to achieve its climate goals.”

Green power practitioners welcomed the chancellor’s announcement.

At Octopus Energy, its head of generation Zoisa North-Bond said “We’re over the moon to see the government taking the handbrake off the gridlock. It will help us bring cheaper, cleaner energy to Britain faster. Renewables have the power to reduce bills for all, but decades-long grid connection queues have massively slowed us down.

The Octopus chief called for reforms to energy pricing. Locational tariffs would mean better use of the existing grid, fewer pylons in the countryside and cheaper bills for every household, she said.

From a smaller developer Island Green Power, its head of projects Dave Elvin welcomed the Chancellor’s move.  But persistent planning obstacles continue to hinder green power’s growth, slowing evident benefits including emissions reduction, job creation, and smaller bills, he observed.

Elvin commented: “Cutting grid access delays by 90% is a step in the right direction. However if we are to truly see an increase in grid access for renewable energy projects, we must also see planning reform and industry support to expedite the delivery of utility-scale solar and renewable infrastructure – which will see all Brits save on their energy bills.”

Trade body SolarEnergy UK noted some cash in the Chancellor’s announcement is not new money. The Green Industries Growth Accelerator is part of a broader £4.5bn pot for strategic manufacturing sectors.

The post Renewables connections ‘to take wing’ as Chancellor puts £960m behind Winser recommendations appeared first on theenergyst.com.

Developed, says the operator, from extensive engagement with connections counterparties, the report unites for the first time data selected to shorten connections waits for green power generators and storage operators.

The ClearViewConnect platform allows customers to look up any grid supply point (GSP) in their license areas and access technical data, including capacity and updates on network reinforcement tasks.

The report will also provide an anonymised view of the pipeline of generation connections for a specific GSP, allowing customers to see what their connection timeline could look like and anticipate any loss of availability, should their desired hook-up be accelerated.

Information provided by the report will help developers reach decisions on green generation projects, allowing them to identify the best connection point for their assets and also understand interactions with other connections and capacities nearby.

Over 2023 National Grid has talked to three of its largest generating customers – Octopus Energy, RWE and Severn Trent – to develop the report.

Presented as the first of its kind from a DNO, the portal brings together valuable connections data and insights for customers and developers in an easy format. It will tell developers in quest of connections which network area offers them the most realistic prospect of quickest, cheapest links.

A further benefit to the DNO itself and to developers, Clearview’s backers believe, will be exposing as redundant alternative requests for links, lodged by developers as risk-spreaders in the connections process. Less attractive schemes should drop from the connections pipeline, shortening wait queues for all applicants.

The operator is eager to share with other DNOs its know-how acquired in building the information tool. Its launch follows Ofgem’s recent announcement on robust milestone management.

National Grid ED intends working with customers, accumulating their feedback in quest of tweaks and amendments yielding more value.

The DNO’s president Cordi O’Hara declared: “We’ve set about finding practical ways to accelerate connections and the delivery of key green energy and infrastructure projects.

“We are also keen to work with the rest of the industry to share the learnings and model from this process, so that they can be easily replicated by individual DNOs as an offer to their customers.”

Responding from Ofgem, interim director for network pricing Steve McMahon enthused: “This is a welcome step forward.

“Improving the transparency and consistency of data for network users is core to Ofgem’s Data Best Practice Guidance.  We are pleased to see NGED making more data available.  We encourage them, and all networks, to continue to work closely with their customers, and each other, to ensure that the provision of network and connections data across GB, for all parts of the system, is co-ordinated and responsive to stakeholder needs.”

Octopus Energy Generation’s boss Zoisa North-Bond commented: “Long and opaque connection queues are preventing customers from fully benefiting from low-cost green power, while stopping developers from making the best decisions about where to invest.

“We congratulate Cordi‘s team for providing more visibility of projects in the queues in their network. I look forward to seeing other networks follow suit.”

Northern Powergrid capo Phil Jones said; “Our company has been working at pace to speed up grid connections for our customers. We recognise the importance of making transparent and accurate data available to customers for them to plan their projects confidently.

“National Grid’s collaborative lead on the website means that we are quickly able to adopt it enabling our customers at all stages of their project to assess the viability of the project from the outset and find the best point for their connection. This is excellent progress in helping our customers with greener energy solutions, and we at Northern Powergrid are continuing to work on improvements, alongside our fellow DNO’s, to enable our customers to get connected much faster and more efficiently.”

Besides ClearViewConnect, National Grid is developing a suite of tools to support wider industry reform of the connections process. To view the report, look here.

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Speeding up the delivery of new transmission lines and connections is challenging but achievable, Electricity Networks Commissioner Nick Winser advises energy ministry D-ESNZ today.

More than 230GW of clean, green generation plant is already in the UK’s connection pipeline, dwarfing the 80GW capacity currently connected, Winser found.  National goals see another 50GW of wind power and 24GW of nuclear, including small reactors, all needing to plug in before 2035.

Winser, a  former National Grid CEO, and now chair of technical research body Energy Systems Catapult, found it takes as long as 14 years between scoping a green generator’s needs, and hooking it into the grid.   Even big wind farms are built in half that time.

Customers, generators, developers and the environment all lose out, and today’s penalties look set to get worse.   Curtailment fees – the money paid to generators deprived of free flow of their output –  could rise from between half and £1 billion last year, to a peak of between £2 and £4 billion forecast around 2030, even if all current investment is delivered on time.

Appointed last July, Winser was tasked to advise ministers on accelerating & simplifying connections grants.  His eighteen recommendations include:

• Streamlining the system for planning approval
• Revised network maps to be published yearly by the imminent Future Systems Operator
• Regional markets for flexibility, DSR and time-shifting to be defined for the first time
• Making public for the first time the technical principles used by transmission engineers in designing networks & upgrades, whether onshore or offshore, overhead or underground
• Giving Transmission Operators incentives & responsibilities to deliver connections to time and to cost. Returns to shareholders should reflect the new settlement.
• TOs to be held accountable for skills shortages impeding faster delivery
• “Constructive engagement” with communities affected by new lines and towers

“We need bold decisions on energy policy right across the system, to reduce energy bills as much and as quickly as possible”, said the Energy Catapult boss.  “It’s unrealistic to imagine we can wait and see what energy sources and demands arise, then hope to build the necessary networks in time”.

To speed planning consent, Winser urges that clear National Policy Statements (NPS) regulating new lines should rank their strategic importance, and make explicit presumptions, including conditions when underground cabling is needed.   NPSs should be updated at least every five years, he says.

In the supply chain, a large skilled workforce of engineers and technicians must be mobilised to plan, design, build, commission and connect new assets into one of the most complex electricity transmission systems in the world, the adviser urges.

 Winser said: “Every part of this process must – and can – be dramatically improved including introducing a spatial energy plan and design principles outlining where and why we need new lines”.

Response from industry bodies was warm.  For National Grid, UK infrastructure president Carl Trowell, said:  “The Commissioner’s report is both timely and welcome”.

“It follows NG ‘s recent launch of The Great Grid Upgrade, the largest overhaul of the electricity transmission grid in generations, with significant new infrastructure planned across England and Wales.

“NG welcomes the report’s recommendations and the focus on delivering tangible benefits for communities hosting new infrastructure.

“We support the need for a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) which should set out what needs to be built where and when, ensure there is an upfront public consultation, and have a standing in planning law.

“There is no time to waste”, Trowell continued.  “Implementing the proposals and progressing the energy transition at pace is the surest route to more affordable bills, greater energy resilience and a more energy independent UK.”

For Octopus Energy Generation, CEO,  Zoisa North-Bond, said:  “Grid connection wait times remain a national scandal. It’s brilliant to see these recommendations to streamline the UK’s grid system and we hope they can be rolled out quickly.

“The UK is on the cusp of a massive decarbonisation opportunity, to build and connect more green energy and deliver cheaper, cleaner energy to people as a result. Timing is of the essence – the need to bring down bills and boost our energy security couldn’t be more urgent.”

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ENW’s Embedded Capacity Register is a database giving an overview of distributed energy resources such as bigger solar roofs & fields, AD plant, and wind and hydro generators. Grid-compatible batteries also feature.

The expanded register now includes connections that have a rated capacity of 50 kilowatts or above. Previously the threshold for disclosure had been 1MW.

Developed through an Open Networks project sponsored by the Energy Networks Association, the resource has immediate value, says ENW, for its potential partners, from battery investors to clean power generators.

It lists information on the location, capacity, and technology type of all distributed generation and DSR resources connected to Electricity North West’s network.

So, who follows?

The database serves  to provide prospective and connected customers with a better visibility of distributed energy resources already hooked up to the network.

Used in conjunction with resources  as Electricity North West’s GIS heat map tool, its network development plan or policies on long-term development, it afford stakeholders clear sight of opportunities or constraints in the connections landscape.  More valuable yet, it displays transparency on activity – or the lack of its – in the DNO’s  connections queue. Better-informed decisions by stakeholders should result.

“We are committed to providing open and transparent data,” said Ian Povey, Electricity North West DSO data manager.

“The expansion of our embedded capacity register to include resources below 1MW will help to support the growth of distributed energy resources in our region and provide valuable insights into how these resources can be used to balance the grid.”

The expanded register can be accessed on the company’s recently launched data portal. This includes interactive maps, downloadable spreadsheets, and API access. ENW promises consistency for developers and other market participants when accessing the data.

Ian added: “The new data portal makes it easy for users to find the information they need, we encourage people to explore the portal and to let us know what they think.”

To secure access, visit ENW’s data portal here.

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The suggestions are included in a platform of five key policy reforms urgently needed, says the supplier, to ease Britain’s 200GW logjam of clean energy hook-ups, assessed as among Europe’s worst.

Delays reportedly as long as 15 years in connecting new wind and solar farms increasingly frustrate grid-ready projects, MPs on Parliament’s energy committee complained last week.

In a new policy paper, ‘End the Gridlock’,  Octopus’s generation arm spells out steps for greener, quicker hook-ups:

• Queue jumping should be encouraged, enabling wind and solar schemes closest to completion to secure confirmed connection permits earliest
• Weed out older connection offers with no-appeal sunset clauses, so fossil-reliant upgrades plants cannot block the queue
• Taking a transparent, data-driven approach to connections, granting permits within zones defined by evidenced, most urgent need for the most new renewables
• Increase competition between developers in the grid connection process, while at the same time
• Fostering collaboration to share and cut connection costs

Octopus calculate their proposed reforms could speed delivery of wind & solar power equal to the needs of 2.5 million homes, matching current demand from Manchester and Birmingham combined. Lower bills and less reliance on polluting fossil fuels would result, the company says.

The company bases its view on experience from the 13 countries where it operates. Valued at £ 6 billion, its 3GW portfolio of generation assets stretch from continental Europe to Australia and the US.

Zoisa North-Bond, head of Octopus Energy’s generation division said: “To accelerate Britain’s colossal renewable energy opportunity and drive down energy bills fast, we need to connect cheap green projects to the grid quicker”

“The single biggest blocker to renewables is waiting to connect to the grid, so we’ve identified quick wins that can genuinely make a difference today and connect wind and solar farms at pace. If we act fast, we can reduce reliance on expensive, polluting fossil fuels, and jump-start a cheaper, greener energy future for British homes and businesses.” 

Read Octopus’ blueprint here.

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