Grid Connection Reform – Good News for Landowners

Following NESO Grid Connections Reform, grid connection offers are due to be confirmed over the next year with protected transmission and distribution connection offers (e.g. shovel ready projects that had significantly progressed and were due to connect in 2026/27) being confirmed over the course of this Spring.

Whilst NESO have progressed at a painfully slow pace and there have been a number of false starts, there is no doubt that the desperately congested grid needed to be reformed and this was not going to be a straightforward process.

In a way, this was a pill which had to be swallowed; however, few expected such long delays. Notwithstanding, we are seeing considerable optimism in the industry.

– There has been more focus and acceleration of construction on shovel ready renewable projects.

– Developers are more creative and enterprising in considering and exploring private wire and behind the metre opportunities – e.g. providing renewable electricity to nearby industrial estates.

– There are opportunities for low carbon dispatchable power projects which will be prioritised by NESO including pumped hydro, flow batteries, thermal storage, hydrogen storage and carbon capture storage.

– More co-located renewable projects – e.g. solar and battery storage.

– More Data Centres proposals – on the back of significant investment from large tech companies and explosion in the use of AI.

– Developers working together – e.g. one developer constructs a solar pv project and another constructs a hydrogen electrolyser which utilises the renewable electricity generated by the solar pv.

The renewable energy development landscape will continue to evolve and change over the course of 2026 and into 2027. However, during this period there will continue to be opportunities for those who are looking for them.

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