Great Britain axes 153 GW of zombie projects to clear the queue for shovel-ready BESS

NESO has confirmed a new delivery pipeline for generation and storage projects in Great Britain, removing 300 GW of capacity from the connections queue. The new queue for battery energy storage system (BESS) grid connections is now full to 2035, with 83 GW of offers made to BESS projects by 2035, 34.5 GW of which will be prioritized for delivery by 2030.

Grid connections in Great Britain were previously offered on a first-come, first-served basis, which resulted in a ballooning queue inflated by speculative applications. A tenfold increase over a five-year period led to more than 700 GW of projects in the queue, with grid connection date offers as late as 2039.

Under the new system, developers are offered a Gate 1 or Gate 2 offer depending on project readiness. Gate 2 offers are confirmed connection offers while Gate 1 projects are only indicative offers for those that don’t meet the Gate 2 readiness criteria. The goal of this reform is to put ready-to-build projects that line up with system need at the front of the queue.

Great Britain’s BESS queue has been significantly oversubscribed and only those projects with “protected” status have secured a Gate 2 connection offer under the new methodology – meaning sites that meet criteria such as securing planning consent, or strategic importance. Gate 1 offers were issued to 152.9 GW of BESS projects but these are now unlikely to proceed.

The new queue of capacity prioritized for connection by 2030 includes 29.9 GW of solar and 34.5 GW of battery energy storage, as well as 4.6 GW long-duration energy storage, 3.6 GW interconnector, 32.1 GW offshore wind and 13.1 GW onshore wind.  Different technologies in co-located projects have been handled separately, meaning separate offers for BESS and solar, which could result in offers with different connection dates.

The new delivery pipeline follows an 18-month design process which included consultation with industry and the market regulator Ofgem. NESO claims the new queue system will unlock 283 GW of generation and storage capacity, as well as 99 GW of transmission connected demand. The grid operator estimates changed to the grid connections process will unlock up to GBP 40 billion in investment.

NESO has started informing developers of their status in the new delivery pipeline and distribution network operators will also be informing distribution level connecting customers of their status, according to the grid operator.

In a press release, NESO chief operating officer Kayte O’Neill said the changes to the connections process will “cut bottlenecks” and provide certainty over when and where projects can connect, “unlocking billions in clean energy investment.”