Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with the National Grid on improving the timetable for connecting infrastructure projects to the national grid.

The Government is working with Ofgem, the Electricity System Operator and network companies to accelerate network connections. Since the Connections Action Plan[1] was published in November 2023, over 40GW of projects have been offered earlier grid connection dates, accelerating up to £40bn of investment. In the coming months we will decide on further action to ensure only viable projects can retain their connection agreements. In addition, from next January a new process will prevent projects being offered a specific connection date until they demonstrate sufficient progress towards connecting to the grid.

[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/655dd873d03a8d001207fe56/connections-action-plan.pdf