National Grid Cannot Distribute Green Electricity
The Guardian claims that according to research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance there are about 200 gigawatts worth of electricity projects waiting for a grid connection, although many are applications from projects that have not yet been implemented.
And why are they waiting? Because the UK electricity network, the National Grid, has been designed to take relatively few inputs from large power stations, and is not being upgraded to cope with taking small inputs from many renewable sources.
Britain suffers the longest backlog in Europe to connect new projects to the electricity grid. The waiting time for a connection can be up to 15 years.
The Guardian goes on to say “The delays threaten to undermine decades of work to attract the investment needed to support the UK’s clean energy ambitions, and risks derailing Britain’s progress towards legally binding climate targets.”
In addition, connecting to the grid involves paying a connection fee which can amount to several millions of pounds.
For these reasons, small solar farms are looking for local consumers to whom they can sell their electricity without having to go through the National Grid.