An On the wire story
Grid connections are increasingly seen as a strategic threat to Britain’s industrial expansion and climate goals, according to report from grid consultancy Roadnight Taylor.
Its report Powering 2030: Can Great Britain’s Infrastructure Support Industrial Growth and Net Zero? says grid connection delays are no longer a technical nuisance, but a strategic risk that could slow investment, raise costs and frustrate the country’s decarbonisation plans.
The consultancy surveyed 200 senior industrial decision-makers across Great Britain and found that 60% of those who had already encountered connection delays said their businesses had suffered direct harm.
A further 34% said growth had been halted altogether, while one in five believed limited grid capacity could stop the UK’s commercial and industrial sector from realising its full potential.
The report also found that delays are pushing back new projects for a third of companies, increasing costs for 32% and undermining energy-transition plans for a quarter.
The findings add to wider warnings from policy and industry groups that the electricity system is struggling to keep pace with a more electrified economy.
Parliamentary findings have linked slow connections and insufficient storage planning to the risk of missing net-zero targets, while other industry briefings have highlighted ageing infrastructure, rising demand from electric vehicles and heat pumps, and the prospect of grid bottlenecks affecting a large share of industrial sites over the coming decade.
Roadnight Taylor said there is also a troubling gap between expectation and reality. Directors who have already faced grid problems were far more likely to see connection timescales as a serious obstacle than those yet to experience them, suggesting many firms are underestimating what is involved.
The report said that mismatch matters because major projects can take far longer to secure capacity than many companies assume, with implications for financing, project design and commercial viability.
The pressure is being intensified by energy costs. Nearly half of respondents said they were worried about bills, while a quarter believed overseas competitors enjoy a clear advantage on energy prices. That is already feeding strategic reconsideration: 25% of directors said they are thinking about placing new plants abroad, and 18% are considering moving their operations overseas altogether.
Despite that, three quarters of respondents said ongoing reform of the connections process by the National Energy System Operator should help their organisations. But the same survey found deep unease about Britain’s broader competitiveness, with 72% saying the UK risks falling behind as the world enters a net-zero industrial era.
Roadnight Taylor argues that stronger incentives for low-carbon fuels, firmer policy certainty and more investment in transition infrastructure will be needed if industrial growth is to be matched by the power system required to support it.
Inspired by headline at: PWE Mag [1]
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• This On the wire article was created using Noahwire AI and reviewed by CIBSE Journal’s editorial team
