Great British Grid to speed up connections and cut bills

Families and businesses across the country will benefit from faster grid connections, greater energy security and lower costs as the Government takes action to remove one of the biggest barriers to clean power and economic growth. 

The Government today (Tuesday 29 September) announces Great British Grid (GBG), a new publicly owned body within Great British Energy that will help accelerate the delivery of the electricity network infrastructure Britain needs. Just as Great British Energy is investing in supply chain, generation and storage projects across the country, now Great British Grid will be able to invest in our electricity grid. 

Britain’s electricity grid must be expanded and modernised at an unprecedented pace if it is to support growing demand from households and businesses, connect new sources of clean power and unlock economic growth. While private investment will continue to play a vital role, the scale of the challenge requires additional public investment and dedicated leadership. 

Great British Grid will bring together public and private investment to support the delivery of critical network infrastructure across the country. Working alongside existing network operators, it will help accelerate projects, increase competition and support the delivery of the grid upgrades needed to power Britain’s future. 

Together, Great British Energy and Great British Grid will be able to invest across the energy system, supporting both the clean power generation Britain needs and the network infrastructure required to get that power to homes, businesses and industry. 

The Government is already working with NESO and Ofgem to reform the connections system, including overhauling the connections queue and removing more than 300 GW of speculative capacity. But further investment will be needed over the coming decades to upgrade the electricity network and ensure it can meet rising demand from homes, industry and new sources of clean power. 

To help projects and businesses connect to the grid more quickly, the Government will also bring forward reforms to expand self-build connections. This will allow developers and businesses to build their own connections where appropriate, rather than waiting for network companies to do so, helping reduce delays, lower costs and accelerate growth. 

Accelerating self-build connections has delivered significant benefits internationally, with similar reforms in Ireland reducing connection times by up to 11 months. 

The Government will also accelerate the competitive tendering of transmission projects, allowing a wider range of organisations, including Great British Grid, to compete to deliver new network infrastructure. This will help drive innovation, improve delivery and secure better value for consumers. 

Combined with wider grid reforms, Great British Grid will help unlock investment, accelerate delivery and ensure Britain has the network infrastructure needed to support clean power, strengthen energy security and grow the economy.

Responding to the news, Yselkla Farmer, CEO of BEAMA, said: 

“The plan for the Great British Grid recognises the need for urgent investment. But what we cannot afford is a protracted process or uncertainty over where the funding goes. Delivery must start now to stimulate the structured growth the energy sector is planning for.

“Investment is needed from top to bottom, from transmission through to distribution, to ensure that electrification can progress at the pace we need it to. Delivering that investment also means giving the manufacturers who supply the networks the confidence to scale up. And that comes from clarity of where the investment will go.

“Later this month, BEAMA and ENA will publish a Growth Plan for electricity networks. It will set out the principles for long-term grid investment that will deliver social value, support the supply chain and create the workforce we need to deliver growth. Any plan that accelerates electrification and is firmly rooted in these supply-chain principles has BEAMA’s support.”

Faye Banks, IET Fellow and member of the IET’s Sustainability and Net Zero Policy Centre, said:

“The UK’s grid connection process is becoming an increasingly significant barrier to economic growth, electrification and the delivery of new energy infrastructure. Additional investment, new powers and reforms focused on accelerating network delivery and reducing connection delays will be a positive step if it helps unlock projects more quickly.

“However, the initiative needs to ensure that it acknowledges that these challenges are not solely attributable to the current ownership model. Many of the delays we see are driven by planning and consenting processes, regulatory requirements, supply chain constraints and the broader complexity of delivering large-scale transmission infrastructure.

“Introducing a new public delivery body will only be effective if roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and it complements rather than duplicates the functions already undertaken by NESO, Ofgem and the transmission owners. The ultimate success will depend on the detailed implementation model, governance arrangements and how effectively it works alongside existing private sector investment.”

gov.uk