Unpicking grid connection jargon to unblock your net zero plans

The sometimes baffling terminology used by Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) can present a barrier for businesses who are looking to progress their net zero plans. Here, Helen Philips, grid connections manager at UK Network Services, provides a useful guide to navigating the DNA jargon jungle. 

It’s maddening and demoralising in equal measure. There you are, proudly proving your net zero ambitions by embedding low-carbon energy infrastructure in your business strategy, when in a stroke, your plans are broken on the wheel of grid connection.

Trust us, you’re not alone. In our daily work, we usher in a procession of frustrated organisations whose net zero plans are being stymied by unfavourable responses from Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) to their grid connection requests.

Maybe, like them, your application for wind or solar power has been delayed until the next decade. Or perhaps your plans to install EV chargers have been halted on obscure legislative grounds that require a six-figure financial resolution.

It’s happening all the time, all over Britain. And as disheartening as it is for organisations like yours trying to do the right thing, it’s also at direct odds with the new government’s net zero agenda.
The recent publication of the Clean Power 2030 report by the newly-formed National Energy Systems Operator (NESO) is admirably bold and clear in its findings. Its key takeaway: “Clean power is a huge challenge but is achievable for Great Britain by 2030.” As long as “pace is prioritised over perfection”, clean sources can produce at least as much power as Great Britain consumes by the turn of the decade.

The report also cautions the need for bold action and sustained momentum at every turn. The barriers put in place by opaque DNO assessments are a massive brake on that momentum; a key ingredient in what Ed Miliband calls “a recipe for defeatism and dependency”.

The most infuriating thing is how unnecessary those barriers are. With the right expertise, they’re actually very easily overcome. The not-so-secret ingredient in a far more palatable recipe is simply knowing what you (or rather the DNOs) are talking about.

How can we say this with such confidence? Because a great deal of our success is built on this knowledge. Through our Apply & Manage service, we’ve already helped dozens of clients successfully secure a grid connection at a fraction of the time and cost they were originally quoted.

We can do this because we see the red flags in the red tape. This comes off the back of our combined decades of technical and commercial experience in the UK energy sector. We get how hard it is to navigate the jargon you’re bombarded with by the DNOs. We don’t expect you to understand what’s legitimate or salient.

Crucially, neither do the DNOs. Understaffed, overworked and hemmed in by stringent regulatory guidelines, they aren’t permitted to provide advice or motivated to work in your best interests. All they are authorised to do is provide a worst-case scenario answer to the specific query you submit, typically couched in language impenetrable to the layperson.

So what is the actual meaning of some of the most common blocking phrases you may encounter in response to your grid connection?

Statement of works
If you apply for a generator connection and you’re told it’s going to Statement of Works (SoW), this means the DNO is going to inform the Transmission Operator before progressing the application. The Transmission Operator’s job here is to assess whether the new connection will impact the transmission network.

The old SoW threshold was 1MW but recently this has been extended to generators as small as 50kW. But since there is virtually nowhere in the country with no transmission constraints, most applications would naturally bump straight into Project Progression. UKNS has valuable experience in navigating this area between SoW and Project Progression, resulting in accelerated connections.

Project Progression
If the Transmission Operator identifies that there isn’t enough capacity on their network, they will require the DNO to submit your generation connection to them for more detailed assessment. This usually comes with a price tag of about £20k. However, there can be multiple generation connections in a single PP, in which case the cost will be shared equally.

Technical Limits
This is a new initiative between the DNOs and the Transmission Operator being implemented in England and Wales to accelerate the connection of generation schemes stuck in the transmission queue. Technical Limits processes are also being trialled in Scotland, but there aren’t yet any clear timescales associated with the full roll-out here.

Interactive
If there are multiple applications for the same network capacity, the process for the applicants competing for the available capacity is described as ‘interactive’. This doesn’t impact the size of your application but it may mean you have less time to accept the DNO’s connection offer before it expires.

Involving an IDNO
You may be told your application needs to go to the IDNO. These are Independent Distribution Network Operators who own and operate in certain parts of the UK’s 14 geographical licence areas. Your application needs to be made to your local DNO, which could be an IDNO. Here’s where you can find out who your network operator is: https://www.energynetworks.org/customers/find-my-network-operator

Type B
Generators are classified according to their electrical output. Unless it is a single-phase domestic connection of no more than 3.6kW, it will require a G99 application to the DNO. Less than 1MW requires a Type A application; 1MW and above is Type B.

There is also Type C for >10MW and large connections to the 132kV network are more typically Type D. There is a higher compliance threshold at each level in order to connect to the network.

Fault levels
For safety, the DNOs are required by the Electricity Act to operate the electricity network within certain thresholds. Fault levels are one of these thresholds, and every newly connected generator increases the load. So if you’re told you can’t be connected because of fault levels, it’s the DNO saying the fault level has been breached.

The problem here is twofold. First, the distribution network wasn’t designed to support decentralised power generation. Second, fault levels are calculated based on the size of a generator, not how much electricity it exports. So when lots of generators want to connect in the same area, the threshold will be breached even if all generated electricity is used rather than exported.

The good news for you is that fault levels on their own are not always a barrier to connection, especially for smaller generators, and UKNS have the knowledge and experience to identify possible solutions to remove it altogether. Larger generators contribute to system stability during faults and therefore have a smaller range of solutions open to them.

Second comer charges
If a previous customer had to pay extra to upgrade the network in order to connect, this upgrade is called reinforcement. If you now connect and make use of the equipment paid for by the previous customer, you’re termed the second comer and you may have to pay for some of that reinforcement. Second comer charges are applicable for 10 years following the original connection and your payment will go to the previous customer, not the DNO.

“That’s going to be expensive because it’s 132kV”
Electrical equipment is rated on the current that it can accommodate. To supply more power, the voltage has to be increased, and 132kV is the highest power equipment available on the UK distribution network, typically for applications generating 40-240MW. Connecting at this level may cost upwards of £3M, so if you’re applying for less than 40MW but you’re told it’ll be 132kV, there’s a good chance you’re being spooked into withdrawing your application.

“We can’t connect you until the 2030s”
With so many well-intentioned applications to connect green-power generators to the distribution network over the last decade, a long connections queue has formed. Until recently, new applications have had to join the back of this queue, pushing scheduled connections back to 2037 in some locations.

However, this isn’t the end of the story and you shouldn’t be deterred if you receive this response. There are procedural changes afoot to clear the backlog and avoid the queue getting any longer. The rules are changing frequently and rapidly, and we’re staying on top of every one of them.

So anything you were told six months ago – good or bad – may no longer apply. We’re here to help identify which of the recent changes could benefit your connection and which may pose a risk.
Indeed, talking a grid connection specialist may well be the best way to navigate the DNO jargon jungle and get your net zero plans back on track.

For further information on UK Networks Services, please visit: https://www.uknetworksservices.co.uk/