Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of projected annual network constraint costs for (a) 2024, (b) 2025 and (c) 2030.

National Grid ESO manages network constraints. In 2023, constraint costs were £1.4bn and the volume of balancing services used to manage constraints was around 12TWh. Data are not available on exact timing of curtailment and the split of costs between renewable and gas generators in 2023.

The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate network delivery in line with the Winser recommendations and is halving the construction time of new transmission infrastructure from 14 years to 7, delivering the grid capacity needed to alleviate network constraints. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements consultation considers several options which could help to reduce constraint costs, including locational pricing, electricity storage deployment and establishing constraints markets.