Connections Reform

The electricity industry is going through major changes to ensure that we are supporting the government’s Clean Power by 2030 initiative. Previously, projects have been able to connect to our network on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis, which has caused a back log with projects not having the necessary plans in place to ensure they are ready to connect.

Ofgem’s approval of Connections Reform in April 2025 marked a significant milestone and effectively gives industry the mandate to start doing things differently for customers applying to connect generation to both transmission and distribution networks.
 
Ofgem’s approval of Connections Reform is supported by two new CUSC (Connection and Use of System Codes) modifications, CMP 434 and 435 and NESO methodologies, setting out the how.

At UK Power Networks we are committed to supporting our customers through this process, through our forums, surgeries and a three-weekly call to ensure you have all the information you need before applying.

Customers will need to demonstrate the readiness of their project which is checked by us, the DNO, (for <100MW) and NESO will need to confirm that the project is needed i.e. strategically aligned. Customers are required to submit evidence to demonstrate both readiness and strategic alignment.

Following NESOs queue formation outcome, UK Power Networks completed the notification to all of our customers. 59% of our customers have secured a Gate 2 offer, accounting for more than 9 GWs of capacity. The queue capacity has now been reduced by more than half of the previous capacity. Our team continues to support all projects on any queries, so please don't hesitate to reach out to ConnectionsReformQueries@ukpowernetworks.co.uk. 

The following information, graphs and table provide the results of queue formation for our customers, showing our three licence areas combined. More than 250 projects have obtained a Phase 1 or Phase 2 position in the queue.

All projects with a firm date in Phase 1 (up to and including 2030) and with readiness have been considered as needed in order to meet UKPN's allocation of 8.1 GW by 2030. As such, they have received a Gate 2 Phase 1 offer.  Despite a high share of Phase 2 projects (+90%) requesting advancement, no schemes were advanced into Phase 1, leaving an undersupply of c2.6 GW between what UKPN was allocated for 2030 as part of the Clean Power Action Plan for and what has actually received a Phase 1 offer (or is connected). These remaining 138 solar projects, with a firm date of 2031 or later, have been assessed by NESO against the combined distribution and transmission Phase 2 permitted capacity for the relevant transmission zone.

Due to high volumes of protected schemes, the allocations for both 2030 and 2035 have been exceeded. Non-protected projects have received a Gate 1 offer.

All projects which met the readiness criteria have received a Phase 1 or Phase 2 queue position, with an undersupply of +200 MW against the 0.9 GW Clean Power 2030 UK Power Networks allocation.

To help you submit your application, we have developed a customer portal. We've produced a video that shows the new features of our customer portal which includes the ability for customers to view the status of their Connection Offer and be able to accept or decline their variation.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) website has information on all elements of Connections Reform including:

• Connections Reform timeline
  
  
• Methodologies
  
  
• Evidence guidance handbook
  
  
• NESO's FAQs

Use our Network Operational Data Dashboard to access information about Grid Supply Points, grid, primary and secondary substations before making your application.

Find out more about Connections Reform, Improving and accelerating customer connections on the Energy Networks Association (ENA) website.