UK moves to end ‘zombie scheme’ to speed up renewables rollout

UK energy regulator Ofgem has unveiled a plan to remove “zombie” projects from the grid connection queue and prioritise shovel-ready wind and solar farms in a bid to meet clean power targets.

It proposes ending the current ‘first-come, first-served’ system, in which some projects are waiting up to a decade to connect to the grid.

Instead, it would fast-track projects if they can be operational quickly and are needed to hit the government’s 2030 clean power targets.

The UK aims to reach 27-29GW of onshore wind and 43-50GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

In January, the UK’s energy system operator said it had more projects in the queue than are required for the energy system’s needs in 2030 or even 2050.

RenewableUK’s director of future electricity systems, Barnaby Wharton said: “Promoting shovel-ready clean energy projects by removing speculative zombie schemes which are blocking them in the queue would help to reduce the huge backlog of grid connection applications across the energy sector. 

“As long as these measures are implemented in the right way, they should provide greater clarity for developers on faster timescales to connect to the grid.”

Ofgem launched a consultation on the proposals today (14 February) and is consulting on them until 14 March.