Trade association Solar Energy UK has welcomed a letter sent by MPs from the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) demanding that the Government should tackle long grid connection waiting lists for solar and battery projects.
As part of the EAC’s latest enquiry, ‘Enabling Sustainable Electrification of the UK Economy’, committee chair Philip Dunne MP sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Grant Shapps, warning that action must be taken to tackle long waits for grid connections.
Bird exclusion mesh (Image: Tanjent Energy)
Unless action is taken “with some urgency, there is likely to be a very considerable shortfall,” in meeting the target of 70 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2035, Dunne wrote.
“There is potential for solar energy to have a bright future in the UK, but a dark cloud of delays for the industry hinders the ability to meet its full potential,” Dunne added.
Earlier this week, Octopus Energy released a 5 point plan to speed up grid connections. In March, the company was offered a grid connection date of 2036 for one of its sites.
Read more: solarpowerportal
