Zonemedia market research analyst Josh Cornes talks during the months since the Clean Power 2030 action plan of the government was published, whereby the reforms of the Net Connection Arrival and the Deadline of 2030 have influenced the Pipeline for solar development of the UK.
With the development status so crucial for the waiting position of the grid connection, developers hurry to get planning applications. A total of 30 applications only arrived in December, the second highest month that has been seen since March 2022, with only November 2023 surpassed it.
These sites formed more than 1.1 GWP in capacity, a considerable number since they were all on Local Planning Authority (LPA). This late hurry, in addition to the entry of Botley West in November, it meant that 2024 was the second best year for applications in terms of capacity, only behind 2023.
Figure 1 shows the two most active neighborhoods for the three years prior to 2024, which were Q1 and Q4. However, Q1 2024 was noticeably quieter, while Q4 saw a large peak in capacity, the third highest we have seen.
The main reason for this inflow of applications is due to the closing date of 20 December. Developers had to submit an application before this date to show strategic coordination under the GATE 2 method of the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
The applications of November 2024 – February 2025 came from more than 35 different developers, with a number that submits their first requests. Looking at the projects themselves, some have had a grid connection for a maximum of 6 years, where most offers have received before 2013. This emphasizes that the urgency Clean Power 2030 (CP30) has caused, so that developers continue with existing projects, because some see the potential that their project connection date is being put forward. One of the projects has a grid connection date until 2036.
Awaiting approval of the planning
Developers look for their sites on their sites before May, a crucial date for the upcoming reforms of the grid. Projects that were submitted at the end of 2024 will have difficulty getting approval on this date; There are currently 250 sites awaiting a decision, in which more than 150 before 24 July of a total of 9GWP capacity are submitted.
Figure 1 also outlines the size of projects currently passing through development, with 2024 with a slightly higher capacity than 2021 and 2022, but 40% fewer projects are submitted.
There is also a large amount of movement about projects that are submitted for scoping or to local consultation. Q3 2024 alone saw 5.2 GW about 55 projects start consulting or starting the process for a national important infrastructure project (NSIP), where Q4 still adds a 2.5 GW on a similar number of projects.
Just like the influx of entries in November/December, CP30 will be a major contributing factor to the leap. The average capacity in July-September is almost 100 MW per site means that a considerable amount of this capacity consists of transmission projects, with projects such as High Grove Solar Farm, Mylen Leah, East Pye and the drunken who all go to NSIP, with more starting local consultation.
There is an even greater distribution of developers who start the early development process of development. Since Q2, more than 10 new developers have started the process on their first sites in the UK. Some of these sites are companies that go on their existing grid connection for the aforementioned reasons, and others are going on the market, buying existing grid and land, taking the project through the development process and then building up.
Developers quickly merge with existing projects, starting with the consultation process or submitting applications, where CP30 causes urgency in the market. More than 90% of the projects that affect the planning sports already have a schedule connection while developers try to jump onto the queue, with a sister on more than 2.5 GWP distribution trait and 20GWP transmission trust connection.
All the above data comes from the analysis of Solar Media Market Research, which is accessiblehere.
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