Green projects to skip queue for grid connections
Green projects will skip the queue for connections to the electricity grid in a bid to boost growth.
Solar farms and wind turbines can currently wait up to 15 years to secure connections to the grid, under a first-come-first-served system.
The queue is clogged up by so-called 'zombie projects' that are not yet built but have priority to be connected, slowing down other developments.
Under Government plans to stimulate growth, green projects, as well as those that are strategically beneficial such as AI data centres, will be able to jump to the front of the queue.
Projects that are not ready or 'not aligned with strategic plans' will be de-prioritised in reforms the Government says will help unlock £40 billion a year of mainly private investment.
'Too many companies are facing gridlock because they cannot get the clean energy they need to drive growth and create jobs,' said Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary.
'These changes will axe 'zombie' projects and cut the time it takes to get high-growth firms online while also fast-tracking connections for companies delivering homegrown power and energy security through our Plan for Change.'
The plans are part of the Government's push to secure a green electricity grid by 2030, which include tripling solar power and doubling onshore wind.
The Government also wants to encourage the growth of data centres to help make the UK a world leader in AI.
Sam Richards, the CEO of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, welcomed the move but said the Government could not run the grid queue forever.
'It's ridiculous that projects which will never get off the ground are allowed to squat in the grid queue year after year, simply by paying a few thousand pounds, while much needed new energy sources and growth-driving AI data centres are forced to wait years for a connection,' he said.
'But the Government can't run the queue forever and should look at introducing more market mechanisms to allow priority projects to bid to move up the line – without this hundreds of millions of pounds will be wasted paying wind turbines to turn off while other clean-energy projects continue to languish in the queue.'
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