Grid Expansion for the UK

In July 2022 the BBC’s business editor outlined plans for the biggest upgrade of the UK’s electricity network in sixty years (Jack, 2022). The expansion would allow an increase in the number of onshore and offshore wind turbines from 11,000, producing “nearly a quarter of the UK's electricity”, to a 2030 total which the National Grid electricity system operator believed would “deliver 50GW of offshore wind power … a third of the UK's electricity demand”. The £54bn project was not without opposition, for example to the building of a 110-mile line of 50m high pylons across East Anglian countryside.

In May 2023 National Grid issued a press release setting out its case for the reforms needed to drive the energy transition, the “priority actions to ensure the networks can play their full role in achieving net zero” (National Grid, 2023a). The five priorities are reform of the planning system, centred around a strategic clean energy vision; ensuring that the regulatory and governance framework is set up for delivery; transforming how clean energy connects to the grid and accelerating Net Zero projects; putting communities and consumers at the forefront of the transition; and developing supply chain capacity and a skills pipeline across the country. The press release claimed that “Investment in Great Britain’s electricity networks could contribute an average of £18.4bn of annual GDP to the economy and support over 220,000 jobs each year to 2035” and quoted National Grid PLC’s C.E.O. as saying that “… we all stand at a critical juncture … Incremental change will not be sufficient – we need a transformative approach.” RenewableUK commented that reform of the planning system was long overdue and that we “We can’t carry on waiting for up to ten years to connect new projects to the grid at a time when we should be prioritising Britain’s energy security.” (Norris, 2023).

The Summary of National Grid’s Delivering for 2035 document enlarged on the challenges and opportunities which it saw and on its five priority areas (National Grid, 2023b). It first stressed the need for “a fundamental step-change in the scale and pace of delivering the new electricity network infrastructure” needed to support “the expected 50% increase in electricity demand” and to reduce reliance on imported gas. It saw the UK in “an international race for clean investment” in which it must “attract and galvanise private sector investment.” The Summary enlarged upon the five priorities: planning reform required finalisation of the National Policy Statements “by the summer” in relation to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, streamlining consent processes for major energy projects, and establishment of a ‘Strategic Spatial Energy Plan’ by 2025, setting out “what needs to be built, where, and when.” The regulatory and governance framework required review of current objectives and duties and clarification of roles and responsibilities across the accountable institutions, strengthening Ofgem’s statutory duties, a “more agile process” to help Ofgem approve investment and accelerate new network capacity, and legislation for network competition in the Energy Bill. Transforming how clean energy connects to the grid requires a shift “from a ‘first come, first served’ to ‘connect or move’ connections process”, removing projects that cannot be connected and are blocking others, plus better coordinated and innovative approaches to connections, and a fast-track connection route for critical net zero projects. Putting communities and consumers at the forefront of the transition can mean ensuring that local people secure real value for hosting critical net zero infrastructure, encouraging new Regional System Planners to unlock local net zero infrastructure, and driving forward demand flexibility through retail market reform. Developing supply chain capacity and a skills pipeline across the country could involve “standardising procurement and technical standards across UK and European networks”, providing incentives to clean energy manufacturers and training providers to locate and expand sites in the UK, and supporting the educational and training system to “inspire a pipeline of future talent”.

The consultation paper “Planning for New Energy Infrastructure” had its closing date extended to 23 June 2023, and contained questions on critical national priority for offshore wind, an offshore wind environmental improvement package, civil and military aviation and defence interests and the need for new electricity network infrastructure (DESNZ, 2023). In July 2023 the Third National Adaptation Programme was published, “providing a comprehensive plan to address the impact of climate change from 2023 to 2028” (NAP3, 2023). This wide-ranging document has a chapter on infrastructure, with a section on energy which views the future electricity network from slightly different perspectives to those outlined above. Here the focus included reliability, resilience in the face of storms, floods and extreme temperatures and coastal erosion, as well as driving the necessary investment in infrastructure. The report attracted a comment that “the Government’s previous National Adaptation Programme failed to prepare the UK for these long-predicted changes to the climate that we are now witnessing” (Dunne, 2023).

On the issue of grid expansion, a Guardian article reported that National grid had called for overhaul of grid regulation “to shorten the decade-long delays in connecting green projects to the energy system” after reporting annual profits of almost £4.6bn, a 15% increase compared with the previous financial year (Ambrose 2023). Ofgem’s chief executive, Jonathan Brearley, was reported to have told an industry conference that Ofgem had “removed all barriers to National Grid investing in grid expansion and upgrades ahead of applications” through its “invest and connect policy”.

An editorial in an August E&T magazine summarised the findings of a new study by Oxford Economics which compared the progress of the UK towards net zero with that of other countries (E&T, 2023). UK growth in low-carbon electricity output was predicted to reach 2.9% by the end of the decade, compared with the US (6.4%), China (7.2%) and India (10.6%). Spain was predicted to reach 6.0 and Germany 5.8%. The article quoted Oxford Economics as saying that of the “world’s largest eight economies, the UK is forecast to have the slowest growth in low-carbon electricity generation between now and 2030”. This was because of predicted low investment, without which the anticipated increase in employment that a net-zero transition could support would not materialise.

References

 

Ambrose, J., 2023, National Grid calls for regulation changes as profits jump to £4.6bn, Guardian, 18 May 2023, online, accessed 18 August 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/18/national-grid-profits-green-energy-delays-electricity

DESNZ, 2023, Consultation: Planning for New Energy Infrastructure, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, online, accessed 18 August 2023

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1159360/revised

Dunne, 2023, Comment: National Adaptation Programme, online, accessed 18 August 2023

https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/62/environmental-audit-committee/news/196545/comment-national-adaptation-programme/

E&T, 2023, UK could be left behind in green energy transition, study warns, Engineering and Technology, 18th August 2023, online, accessed 23 August 2023

https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2023/08/uk-could-be-left-behind-in-green-energy-transition-study-warns/

Jack, S., 2022, National Grid reveals £54bn wind power network upgrade plan, BBC News, online, accessed 18 August 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62085297

NAP3, 2023, Third National Adaptation Programme, National preparedness Commission, online, accessed 19 August 2023

https://nationalpreparednesscommission.uk/2023/07/third-national-adaptation-programme-nap3/

National Grid, 2023a, National Grid sets out case for urgent reform to drive the energy transition, National Grid press release, online, accessed 18 August 2023

https://www.nationalgrid.com/national-grid-sets-out-urgent-reform-energy-transition

National Grid, 2023b, Delivering for 2035: Upgrading the grid for a secure, clean and affordable energy future, Summary, May 2023, online, accessed 18 August 2023

https://www.nationalgrid.com/document/149501/download

Norris, R., 2023, Connecting new clean energy projects to the grid faster will deliver cheaper power and more jobs, RenewableUK Press Release, online, accessed 21 August 2023

https://www.renewableuk.com/news/news.asp?id=640238

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