Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of penalising non-ready infrastructure projects on electricity grid queue clearance rates under the Connections Action Plan.

The Department has taken forward reforms to the grid connections process, removing over 300GW of project capacity from the main queue that was no longer progressing or was not required to meet the system’s needs by 2035.

Projects are required to meet ongoing progression milestones, such as securing planning consent, to retain their connection agreements with confirmed connection point and date. This supports a more efficient connections process and enables viable projects to progress more quickly.