LONDON (Reuters) – Britain plans over the coming months to introduce a faster way to connect new power projects to the grid, the energy regulator, said on Friday as it seeks to accelerate progress towards a goal to decarbonise electricity by 2030.
Under the existing system, projects are dealt with in the order they enter a queue regardless of how advanced the projects are.
The new system would seek to give priority to projects that are ready or in locations where more generation capacity is needed.
“We have enough energy projects in the grid connection queue to deliver clean power by 2030, but many are stuck behind speculative schemes, leading to delays of up to 10 years,” Britain’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said in a statement issued by regulator Ofgem.
Ofgem said a consultation was open on the plans until March 14 and after that, offers could begin to be accelerated, with the first projects approved under the new system connected and operational from 2026.
(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; editing by Barbara Lewis)
