Unlocking the capacity of the electricity networks: overview

Reports, plans and updates
Publication date
Industry sector
Supply and Retail Market
Distribution Network
Generation and Wholesale Market

An efficient process to get connected to the electricity network is essential for the social and economic wellbeing of the country. Timely electricity connections of all types are essential for the efficient and secure low carbon future system.

Where the network is constrained, customers can’t connect to the network when and where they would like. This can increase costs for connection customers and may mean new developments are delayed, have to move to another location on the network or don’t proceed at all.  In our ‘Quicker and more efficient connections’ (QMEC) publication in 2015, we outlined some of the issues customers face in connecting to the distribution network and consulted on ways to make this process easier.

This document gives an overview of the status of constraints across the distribution and transmission networks and the changing interactions between them. We want to highlight the improvements the industry has begun to make since then and outline our expectations for continued progress. We also describe the transmission access regime arrangements (’Connect and Manage’) .