The National Energy System Operator (NESO) announced last week that it is planning to raise the threshold for costly transmission impact assessments (TIA) from one megawatt to five megawatts. This would particularly benefit warehouses and factories that are struggling with high energy bills, taking years off their plans to decarbonise and avoiding changes to the high-voltage transmission network. Community energy projects, both on the ground and on rooftops, would also gain from the reform.
Changing the rules now means that new grid management rules, known as ‘Gate 2’ compliance, would not apply to projects under 5 MW, nor would they have to demonstrate consistency with December’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. In all, up to 390 projects are expected to be brought forward under the plan.
However, due to technicalities relating to how the Scottish electricity grid is set up, the change in threshold will not apply in Scotland. A threshold of only 200 kilowatts will continue. Northern Ireland operates under different rules, as part of the all-Ireland grid.
“While it’s certainly welcome south of the border, this move will put Scottish businesses at a disadvantage, not to mention the Scottish economy, energy security and decarbonisation efforts” said Josh King, Chair of Solar Energy Scotland. “We need to cut these overly cautious bureaucratic rules in Scotland in the same way as England and Wales to maintain a level playing field.”
Solar Energy Scotland has therefore appealed to NESO, network operators Scottish Power and Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks and to politicians in Holyrood and Westminster to replicate the change north of the border.
Its letter describes the matter as “a critical issue for Scotland’s renewable energy sector: if TIA thresholds in Scotland are not similarly increased, there is serious risk of further exacerbating an already uneven playing field that could deter investment in Scottish renewables.”
The letter goes on to warn that developers may choose to focus on projects in England and Wales, due to the lower costs that would apply there.
“This will undermine Scotland’s solar energy industry and jeopardise Scotland’s own climate and energy targets, such as the 4-6 GW solar deployment ambition by 2030” the letter warns. “This could also hamstring the UK’s overall Clean Power and Net Zero targets, as large amounts of renewable generation are needed at both the Distribution and Transmission level in Scotland to achieve the targets.”
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