NESO announces “once in a generation” grid reform overhaul

On 8 December, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) confirmed a major overhaul of Great Britain’s electricity grid connection process.

This initiative will prioritize a new pipeline of “shovel-ready” energy projects, expected to generate £40bn in clean investment each year. The transformation aims to accelerate progress toward the government’s Clean Power by 2030 target.

The changes follow a tenfold increase in the grid access queue over five years, now exceeding 700GW - about four times the nation’s projected need by 2030.

Chris Stark, Head of Mission Control for Clean Power 2030, described the overhaul as the most important step toward a clean power system. “The energy projects our country needs now have the green light to deploy at a pace we haven’t seen for decades,” he said.

The new approach shifts from a first-come, first-served model to one that prioritizes projects ready to meet Great Britain’s energy and economic needs.

According to NESO, thousands of projects - including wind and solar farms, battery storage, and hydrogen - will join the new pipeline. This includes 283GW of generation and storage capacity and 99GW of transmission-connected demand.

Kayte O’Neill, NESO’s Chief Operating Officer, stated, “Transforming the grid connections process is a vital first step in unlocking the capacity needs for a secure, affordable energy transition. These changes will cut grid bottlenecks by prioritizing ready-to-build projects, providing certainty about when and where they can connect, and unlocking billions in clean energy investment.”

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, “We inherited a broken system where zombie projects were allowed to hold up grid connections for viable projects that will bring investment, jobs, and economic growth. To fix this, we embarked on ambitious, once-in-a-generation reforms to clean up the queue and prioritize the projects that are ready to help us deliver clean power by 2030.”

The first protected projects, scheduled to connect in 2026 and 2027, will begin receiving formal offers with confirmed connection dates through December and into the new year. Remaining offers will be finalized by the third quarter of next year.