Ed Miliband has blocked new energy projects from joining the National Grid, dealing a significant blow to the Government’s net zero ambitions.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso), which is overseen by the Energy Secretary, announced the temporary ban on Wednesday.
It said the move was necessary to reduce a huge backlog across the Grid, which has been overwhelmed by thousands of applications from green energy providers.
The system is under so much pressure that new projects face delays of up to 14 years to secure connections, more than double the time it takes to build a large wind farm.
The scale of the gridlock is so great that it also threatens to derail Mr Miliband’s bid to achieve clean power by 2030.
A Neso spokesman said it will “pause” applications received from new entrants as of Wednesday Jan 29 , including those submitted by wind and solar farms.
Matt Vickers, director of connections reform at Neso, said: “This transitional arrangement is critical to delivering the connections reforms we will implement later this year, subject to Ofgem approval.
“To reorder the queue, we need to start from a stable base. This short pause in applications will allow us to work with colleagues across the network companies to prepare for the new processes we need to bring forward the electricity projects needed for the delivery of clean power by 2030 and beyond.”
Neso said it received 1,700 new applications last year alone, accounting for roughly eight each working day.
By contrast, there were just 600 projects in the queue three years ago, showing the speed at which new applications are being lodged.
Neso, which is a new organisation under government control, inherited the connections system when it was hived off from National Grid last autumn.
The system dates back to the days when the UK relied on a small number of large power stations typically fuelled by coal, gas or nuclear fuels.
This meant there were only ever a few applications for new power stations in the system – until the expansion of low-carbon generation.
Renewables projects are typically much smaller in size, meaning the UK needs many more of them to boost supplies.
However, the generous subsidies on offer from the Government have also fuelled applications.
Those taxpayer subsidies, effectively guaranteeing profits for green energy providers, have prompted thousands of speculative submissions..
Many are for sites near to existing power lines or substations, while the most speculative are for greenfield plots – typically farmland – along the routes of planned new pylon lines.
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Such applications have clogged the system – which is designed to connect projects according to the date order in which they were listed, without any system for prioritisation.
The system has also created a legal and commercial headache for Mr Miliband who, as Energy Secretary, has ultimate control over Neso.
This is because securing a place on the connections list gives a project legal and commercial status, adding value to the companies behind them.
There are now fears that the looming ban on applications will spark a slew of legal claims.
A Neso spokesman said: “Grid connections applications have continued to grow over the last year to the point that it is no longer possible to deliver in-flight connections reforms in parallel with the existing connections process.
“In 2023/24 alone, Neso received over 1,700 queue applications, with more projects already in the queue than is required for the energy system in 2030 or even 2050.”
Richard Tice, Reform UK MP, said the system was falling apart: “Chaos is descending on our electricity grids as more, primarily foreign, private equity vultures seek to rip off British consumers.
“They want ever more expensive renewable subsidies, to prop up Mr Miliband’s dangerous net zero plans. They want to carpet our productive farmland with millions of solar panels and tens of thousands of turbines and pylons. They can be warned: Reform UK will end this gravy train of abuse.”