On 15 April 2025, the UK Government and Ofgem announced sweeping UK Grid reforms to how clean energy projects access the electricity grid. Under the current system, developers have been stuck in years-long queues — a situation that has frustrated the pace of the energy transition and delayed billions of pounds worth of investment.
The reform promises to shake that up.
This marks a significant shift in energy infrastructure policy — and at Olsights, we believe it has the potential to unlock enormous opportunities for clean energy developers, provided they can understand and navigate the new landscape.
What Has Been Announced?
In short, the reforms will:
- Prioritise projects that are “shovel-ready” — meaning they have land rights, planning permissions, and financing secured.
- Clear out stalled or speculative developments that have clogged up the grid connection queue but show no signs of progressing.
- Introduce a more agile, merit-based process that could reduce connection waiting times by up to 10 years for viable projects.
This change comes after years of concern from industry stakeholders that the “first come, first served” approach was no longer fit for purpose. It was creating a bottleneck that made it difficult for real, investable projects to move forward.
Why the UK Grid Reform This Matters to the Clean Energy Transition
Grid connection delays are not just an administrative hurdle — they are one of the biggest risks facing renewable energy developers in the UK. The old system allowed early applications to hold prime grid spots even if those projects never reached construction, meaning:
- Faster-moving projects were stuck behind speculative ones.
- Grid operators lacked visibility on which projects were genuinely ready.
- Net zero targets slipped further out of reach.
By reordering the queue based on project maturity, this reform paves the way for a cleaner, smarter, and faster energy system. But it also adds a layer of urgency: developers must be fully prepared if they want to secure a grid connection.
Olsights’ View: A Moment of Opportunity and Competition
At Olsights, we believe this reform is not just a technical change — it’s a strategic opportunity.
This is a pivotal moment for the energy transition. Grid access will no longer be about who got there first — it will be about who is most ready. That creates a more level playing field but also intensifies the competition.
To succeed in this new environment, developers will need to demonstrate:
- Credible project readiness (permissions, funding, site control)
- An understanding of their project’s context, including proximity to other developments
- Awareness of cumulative impact on local infrastructure
How Olsights Eye Supports Developers in the New Grid Landscape
Olsights Eye is designed to help developers make informed decisions faster — especially in a complex, interactive infrastructure landscape.
Our platform doesn’t provide grid capacity forecasts. Instead, it gives you the tools to:
- Visualise the infrastructure and development landscape around your project
- Understand how your site interacts with neighbouring developments, including other clean energy assets, demand hubs, and transmission lines
- Assess the cumulative impact and potential constraints that may affect your place in the connection queue
- Explore trends and patterns in infrastructure development, helping you identify opportunities and avoid bottlenecks
Whether you’re planning a wind farm, hydrogen facility, carbon capture site, or energy storage system, these insights help reduce risk, increase investor confidence, and accelerate your route to deployment.
What Comes Next?
We expect to see a wave of activity over the coming months as developers adjust their plans to align with the new criteria. For some, this may mean accelerating planning applications; for others, it will involve rethinking location and clustering strategies.
What’s clear is that project interactivity is now a critical factor. The location, timing, and neighbouring developments around your site will all shape your project’s viability in the new grid access regime.
Let’s Talk
At Olsights, we’re already working with project developers, planners, and infrastructure providers to help them adapt to these changes. If you’d like to understand how your project fits into this evolving system, or how you can better prepare for connection priority:
