Solar Energy UK welcomes plans to slash solar red tape

Delivering large-scale rooftop solar energy projects should soon be cheaper and quicker, under recently announced plans.

As reported by Solar Energy UK, the state-owned National Energy System Operator (NESO) intends to remove a burdensome element of red tape that has added many years to getting projects off the ground. This has been an economic burden on businesses across the country, keeping them dependent on pricey power from the grid.

It has also held back the community energy sector and diminished the pace of decarbonisation, contrary to Government objectives.

As things stand, projects intended to connect to the lower-voltage distribution grid that are over one megawatt in capacity must have their potential impact on the higher-voltage distribution grid considered. The cost of these transmission impact assessments (TIAs) has effectively blocked larger local power projects, or has added years of delays.

The benefits will only flow to England and Wales, due to the way that Scotland’s grid is configured. Northern Ireland’s grid is part of a separate all-Ireland system.

However, a comparable but less radical change has already been implemented in Scotland. Last summer, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) raised the threshold for TIAs from only 50 kilowatts – about twelve times the size of a typical domestic installation – to a more substantial 200kW. Doing so significantly expedited 35 projects in central and northern Scotland, their capacity coming to 5.2MW. It brought SSEN in line with procedures in the rest of Scotland.

Chris Hewett, Chief Executive of Solar Energy UK, said:

“Reducing barriers for renewable energy is always a welcome move, so we are delighted to see NESO’s announcement, which has come somewhat earlier than we had anticipated. Slashing the red tape for larger-scale rooftop projects, and potentially for small-scale groundmount systems, will be a real economic boon.”