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Pounds for pylons offer has 59% chance of halting delays
The government has insisted its proposed £1.5 billion package of payments to communities hosting grid projects will have only a negligible impact on wider bills, while also admitting it offers only a slightly better than even chance of thwarting delays.
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Government and Ofgem raise concerns over grid reforms
The annual application windows proposed by the Electricity System Operator as part of long-term reforms to the connections process may not work for some types of projects, the government and energy regulator have cautioned. The comments were included in the six-point Connections Action Plan issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Ofgem.
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‘Triage’ process to prioritise strategic connections
The government will manage a “triage” process for prioritising the connection of strategically important energy projects as part of its joint action plan with Ofgem for speeding up grid connections. Working with the regulator, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) will establish a Connections Delivery Board to oversee the implementation of the six-point plan, which aims to cut the average wait for a connection from 5 years to 6 months.  
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Latest in Gas networks

ENA split reveals sector fault lines
What prompted Britain’s gas companies to resign en masse from the Energy Networks Association and what does it mean for the wider sector’s message around net zero? Utility Week editor James Wallin examines the tensions on both sides, the catalyst for the walkout and what the two sides can still agree on.
Comment
Centrica’s Rough facility feeds gas into grid
The Rough storage facility has released stored gas into the grid for the first time this winter, to meet rising demand during colder temperatures. Operated by Centrica, Rough is the UK’s largest gas storage facility. This year, Centrica has filled Rough with the equivalent of 18 LNG tankers, double the amount stored last winter.  
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Gas networks to quit ENA
All five of Great Britain's gas networks are to leave trade body the Energy Networks Association (ENA) at the end of 2024, Utility Week can reveal. The ENA said that “in view of the changing energy policy landscape” the gas networks had reviewed their membership and concluded “their interests are best served by leaving” the umbrella organisation.
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FSO to establish ‘Regional Energy Strategic Planners’ across Great Britain
The Future System Operator (FSO) will be tasked with establishing a series of Regional Energy Strategic Planners (RESPs) across Great Britain, Ofgem has confirmed. Working with local government and networks, the bodies will create strategic plans setting out how energy systems in each region should be developed to meet national net zero targets, whilst also taking into account local needs and resources.
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Weekend press: Gas network battles revolt against hydrogen trial
Northern Gas Networks is battling to prevent its proposed hydrogen trial in Redcar from suffering the same fate as Cadent’s Whitby project, which was the only other candidate to become the UK’s first ‘hydrogen village’ but was cancelled earlier this year due to local opposition. Also in the latest round-up of the weekend’s papers, the government is warned that heat pumps are currently ‘too noisy’ for millions of British homes and England sees no new applications for onshore wind farms.
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Making connections
Frustration at a local level about delays in connecting low-carbon technologies to the grid often come down to a failure of communication between local authorities and their networks. This was the view expressed at our latest roundtable bringing together networks and councils, which also discussed the need for clarity on whole system planning.
Analysis
Ofgem to adopt new regulatory regime for major grid upgrades
Ofgem has announced plans to introduce a new regulatory regime for strategic electricity transmission projects, whereby network companies will automatically receive funding to develop projects identified as necessary in the Future System Operator’s Centralised Strategic Network Plan. The regulator said the regime will operate in parallel to the RIIO3 price controls for which networks will no longer be required to submit draft business plans.
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Government: No one should wait for hydrogen heating
The government has told the public not to bank on the prospect of hydrogen for home heating. While recommitting to carrying out hydrogen heating trials, the government has said that heat pumps and heat networks “will be the primary means of decarbonisation for the foreseeable future”, in its official response to the Committee on Climate Change’s annual report. The response adds that “no one should hold back on installing a heat pump or connecting to a heat network on the basis that hydrogen may become an option later”.
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IEA: Golden age of gas is nearing an end
The “golden age of gas […] is nearing an end” and demand will begin to decline from the start of the 2030s, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared. A global shift to renewables and the “rise of heat pumps” will see gas use slow over the next decade before the market goes into decline in the 2030s, the IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook predicts. In another blow to global gas markets, the IEA states that the outlook for hydrogen “is clouded by cost inflation, uncertainty around policy details and supply chain bottlenecks”.
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Wales & West Utilities explores gas and electricity smart links
Wales & West Utilities (WWU) has launched a project to explore how smart links between gas and electricity networks can make better use of renewable energy. The HyVoltage Project is being led by the gas network operator, with National Grid Electricity Distribution as a non-funding partner. It will assess the viability of introducing what WWU calls “flexible vector conversion sites” with integrated smart links between both gas and electricity distribution networks.
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Mass electric heating is ‘delusional’, says union boss
Mass electrification of home heating has been branded “nonsense” and “delusional” by the leader of the UK’s third biggest union. Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB, used a fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference to issue a broad ranging attack on current approaches to curbing emissions.
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