Britain’s grid reckoning: Can connection reforms deliver clean power by 2030?

Britain’s power system is undergoing one of its most consequential overhauls in decades. Confronted with a system overwhelmed by speculative project applications, policymakers and system operators initiated sweeping reforms to prevent gridlock from derailing the UK’s decarbonisation ambitions. Central to this effort was the transformation of how new projects connect to the grid, led by the newly established National Energy System Operator (NESO). While these reforms have dramatically streamlined the connection process, they mark only the end of the beginning. Whether the UK can now deliver on its 2030 clean power targets depends on a new phase of execution: building the projects that remain, delivering enabling infrastructure, and maintaining investor confidence in a system still under strain.