Moves to clamp down on speculative grid connection applications

The Government has announced plans to tackle speculative grid connection applications which have led to a sharp rise in the transmission network queue.

Applications for demand connections to the transmission network have risen by 460% in just six months and the Government said that was delaying connections for strategically important projects.

It will now prioritise strategically important projects including AI data centres and industrial sites that can deliver growth and jobs

It is consulting on a series of measures to clamp down on speculative applications, address the oversubscribed queue, and accelerate viable projects.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “Industries that can bring real economic benefits are ready and waiting to be powered up, but the queue for grid connections has grown exponentially due to speculative applications.”