The UK Electricity Networks Commissioner Nick Winser has called for the halving the delivery of transmission systems to seven years in order to keep pace with wind projects.
In a new report that has been widely welcomed by the renewables industry, Winser said speeding up the delivery of strategic transmission is both vital and challenging.
To deliver 50GW of wind power the grid infrastructure needs to be improved to get this power into homes and businesses, according to the report.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps, Winser said: “The implications of being able to build wind generation faster than the associated connections to customers will be serious: very high congestion costs for customers, and clean, cheap domestic energy generation standing idle, potentially for years.
“Currently, the expectation is that strategic transmission may take 12 to 14 years from identification of the need to commissioning.
“Very few new transmission circuits have been built in the last 30 years and a dramatic increase will be required through to 2050, so even these long timescales may be challenging to meet if we fail to streamline the process.
“Substantial wind generation can be built in half this time.
“So, the challenge to me, set by the Secretary of State at the time, to reduce the timescale for building strategic transmission by three years, and ultimately by a half is the right one.
“I believe that we must hit the more ambitious end of this and reduce the overall timescale to seven years. I am confident that this is achievable.”