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Securing your grid connection – Guidance on Gate 2 to Whole Queue (G2TWQ) connection process

Is your community energy project over 50kW and in receipt of a live grid connection offer? If so, you may need to act now to avoid losing your project’s position in the grid connection queue.

The way grid connections are being managed is changing. The District Network Operators (DNOs) have recently contacted applicants who are in receipt of connection offers and are affected by these changes, alerting them to take action as part of the CMP435 Gate 2 Whole Queue reform.

As part of this grid reform process, embedded generation and storage projects (above the set Transmission Impact Assessment (TIA) thresholds) that are to be connected to the network must now meet specific readiness and strategic alignment criteria to keep or improve their connection place.

This is done by submitting evidence through a ‘readiness declaration’ to show the project’s status and stage of development. Projects that don’t submit evidence will be moved back into the Gate 1 queue process and risk experiencing significant delays.

We hosted a ‘Securing your grid connection – Guidance on Gate 2 to Whole Queue (G2TWQ) connection process’ webinar with Locogen on Tuesday 10 June. Locogen shared key information on what community energy projects need to do to avoid losing their place in the grid connection queue.

This was followed by a helpful question and answer session. If you couldn’t attend our webinar, you can watch the recording on our YouTube channel.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has published the connection reform interactive timeline. An important date to note is Thursday 29 July – this is the deadline to submit evidence for transmission and distribution connected projects via the submission portals. For more information on this, we’d encourage you to visit NESO’s website.

If your community energy project has recently been contacted by your DNO or NESO about the ‘readiness declaration’ process, and you’d like support through the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), please get in touch by emailing info@localenergy.scot.

Securing your grid connection – Guidance on Gate 2 to Whole Queue (G2TWQ) connection process

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