Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Deferred
Implement Connections Action Plan, prioritising renewable energy and decarbonised applications connections.
Conclusion
The Government and Ofgem must implement in full the changes proposed in the Connections Action Plan. This must entail, for example, the prioritisation of short- term grid requirements, so as to incentivise network operators to prioritise renewable energy connections. The connection of grid inputs from solar and wind, generation, and outputs serving decarbonised applications such as heat pumps and electric vehicle charging, must be prioritised in parallel with connections for larger nuclear and carbon-emitting technologies. (Paragraph 93) 46 Enabling sustainable electrification of the economy
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response outlines a planned national public awareness campaign for early 2025 to promote the importance of new electricity network infrastructure, which does not address the recommendation to implement the Connections Action Plan in full or prioritise renewable energy connections.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
Ofgem and Government continue to work with NESO and network companies to implement connections reform. This includes revising network modelling assumptions and allowing projects to connect ahead of network capacity being permanently available. This is already accelerating connections for renewable generation and storage projects. Longer-term connection reforms are also underway to ensure viable generation and demand projects that are aligned with net zero, Clean Power 2030 and other energy objectives can connect to the network faster.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗