UK Sprints Forward With Grid Connections for 700 Clean Energy Projects

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While the US is languishing thanks to permitting hell, the UK is looking to speed up its clean energy transition with faster grid connections for solar, wind, and battery projects.

“Britain has offered grid connections to more than 700 projects, the country’s power planning ​body said on Wednesday, under a reformed allocation system expected ​to help unlock up to £40 billion in annual clean ⁠power investment.”

£40 billion! Who doesn’t want £40 billion worth of clean power projects to move forward as quickly as possible? (I mean, who other than fossil fuel companies?)

The country was previously operating under a “first come, first served” system, which doesn’t sound too bad, but that was apparently leading to significant bottlenecks in grid connection, according to the National Energy System Operator. The country implemented some reforms in the process, and now it’s basically sprinting forward in getting clean power projects the grid connections they need. (US, take note.)

Ah, well, it’s actually not all clean power projects that are getting through. Some gas projects snuck through. “Offers were made to 713 of ​1,223 projects in a 2030 pipeline including offshore and onshore wind, ​solar, battery storage, gas and hydro, NESO said,” Reuters shares. But it’s mostly clean power.

These 713 projects combined for 37 gigawatts (GW) of ‌power capacity. While NESO says that the country needs a total of 132 GW (inclusive of those 37 GW) in order to decarbonize (or decarbonise) the British power sector by 2030.

So, while the UK is sprinting forward on connecting clean energy projects to the grid, the federal government in the US is gumming up the works and trying to get such projects canceled. The former approach increases investment in the sector, since developers and investors can count on a more reliable and better return on investment, while the latter approach means slowing the economy down and dragging the country backwards. I know which option I’d prefer….