Changes to transmission grid connection offers with National Grid

From Monday, 2 September 2024, new transmission grid connections from NGESO will look very different from the usual CUSC bilateral connection agreements and construction agreements customers have historically received. Ofgem have approved the introduction of transitional offers which lay the foundations for the gated connections approach. These transitional offers will provide only an indicative connection point and completion date, with no detail regarding transmission works and the programme. As such, NGESO will not request securities or apply Queue Management milestones to these transitional offers.

For further information see below.

 

Grid reform continues to be an ongoing topic in the UK with two recent developments from Ofgem.

These developments follow the Government's announcements regarding the lift on the ban on onshore wind projects in the UK, establishing a new publicly owned company "Great British Energy" to own and operate green energy projects and introducing a new "Mission Control" within government tasked with assisting the UK in meeting its NetZero by 2030 goal.

These announcements are intended to promote and accelerate the development of green energy projects in the UK. With the connections queue now at 725GW across transmission and distribution, the pressure on the grid is only expected to grow.

 

Update 1: The implementation of a "transitional period" before TMO4+ is introduced

On Wednesday, 21 August, Ofgem published its Decision on Joint Direction and Letter of Comfort requests from NGESO and all three GB Transmission Owners (NGET, SSENT and SPT).

This letter sets out Ofgem's support for implementing transitional arrangements in respect of connections direct to the transmission network. These transitional arrangements are to bridge the gap between the current grid connection process and the gated approach (if approved by Ofgem).

The transitional approach is confirmed to apply to new directly connected transmission applications made from Monday 2 September 2024 and will be in place until Monday, 31 March 2025 (at the latest). This transitional approach does not currently apply to modification applications, BELLAs or BEGAs – a second letter is being discussed in this regard.

Customers will be given a transitional offer in standard contract form between NGESO and the customer. These would provide only an indicative connection point and completion date, with no detail regarding transmission works and the programme. NGESO would not request securities or apply Queue Management milestones to any transitional offers. Further details on transitional offers can be found here.

The TMO4+ proposal if approved, will see the implementation of a gated approach to connection offers.  See more information on this here. Connection customers that have met the relevant Gate 2 criteria would be eligible for a Gate 2 offer, those who have not met the criteria would receive a Gate 1 offer. In the Gate 2 offer, the location and completion date will be confirmed, and a full set of appendices will then be included which will also include the Queue Management milestones. If the Gate 2 offer is not signed the customer will remain with a Gate 1 offer. 

 

Update 2: Two new options for grid reform are under discussion by the CDM

The Ofgem Connections Delivery Board (CDB) announced in a blog post on Wednesday, 14 August that two new options for grid reform are under discussion. These options are to further accelerate improvements in the connections queue. The two options are introducing:

1. Technical or technology criteria: this would involve projects having to satisfy additional technical criteria to enter the new queue. The intention is to ensure Great Britain has an efficient and suitable mix of generation technologies that work in harmony with each other to efficiently deliver a Net Zero power system.
2. Financial criteria: this could involve additional fees, charges or securities for projects in the queue beyond those currently included within the TM04+ design. The idea is to raise the standard of proof of the financial viability of projects and weed out any less-viable projects at an earlier stage.

The next meeting of the CDB will be in September 2024, at which the electricity system operator will report to the CDB with a shortlist of options.

Please contact Andreas Gunst, Sophie Linnell and Alice Stubbings if you would like any further information.