Connections Reforms – delays and treatment of protected projects

The Gate 2 to Whole Queue connections reform process embarked upon in 2025 must be one of the single biggest technical and administrative exercises ever carried out in the power sector. The huge queue of clean energy projects that had built up were being developed in the face of material uncertainty as to grid connection dates, with offers being issued with connection dates well into the 2030s. There was far too much capacity being developed (beyond what was necessary to deliver Government targets) and this created a very real problem for system planning and development for NESO and the network companies.

The fundamental policy driver behind Connections Reform was to speed up deployment of projects and remove from the queue, those that are not “ready” or not “required”. The ambition to remove or downgrade projects that do not meet the criteria and to honour current grid connection dates for projects connecting in 2026 and 2027 has, however, hit some material stumbling blocks over recent weeks, in particular:

Published delivery deadlines for the issue of Gate 2 offers have not been met
Mandated protections for some projects, ensuring no changes to their connection dates or location, will not now be achieved for over 60% of affected projects

Delays

A number of reasons have been cited by NESO for the delays in their ability to issue Gate 2 offers. The first tranche of these should have been released by the end of January 2026, but none were issued by that deadline, with the first only being issued mid-February.

The new timelines and how they relate to what was expected until now are detailed below.

	Initial Timeline	New Timeline	Potential Slippage
2026/2027 Protected transmission and large embedded offers:	31 January 2026	13 February 2026 – mid-April 2026	2.5 months
2026/2027 Protected distribution offers:	31 March 2026	early March 2026 – end May 2026	2 months
Gate 2 Phase 1 transmission and large embedded offers:	30 June 2026	mid-May 2026 – mid-September 2026	2.5 months
Gate 2 Phase 1 distribution offers:	30 June 2026	early July 2026 – mid-November 2026	4.5 months
Gate 2 Phase 2 transmission and large embedded offers:	30 September 2026	early September 2026 – mid-January 2027	3.5 months
Gate 2 Phase 2 distribution offers:	30 September 2026	mid-October 2026 – mid-March 2027	5.5 months

Protected projects

The administrative rules for Connections Reform confirmed that anyone with a connection date in 2026 or 2027 and planning consent would have a high level of protection. In short, they would have their current agreed connection dates honoured and no change of connection location.

NESO and the transmission network owners (TOs), however, wrote to Ofgem in October 2025 seeking relief from any failure to meet those rules for those projects. They indicated that, for a variety of reasons, including difficulties in securing consents for transmission assets, supply chain issues, and other network or developer driven delays, they would not be able to maintain the current connection dates for 62% of protected projects (and in some cases, could not offer the same connection location).

Ofgem has now responded to that request and has refused “at this time” to provide the relief sought by NESO and the TOs. Ofgem’s letter of 6 February 2026 is very informative in both tone and content. For example:

The letter discloses that this issue was first identified by NESO to Ofgem in June 2025 (before the window for applications to the Gate 2 to Whole Queue process closed in August 2025).
Despite engagement between them since then, Ofgem express frustration that they still do not have sufficient information to draw any conclusions and grant the relief sought.
The quantity (62%) of protected projects impacted is concerning. Ofgem note that they believe that 135 of the 210 projects affected (over two thirds) are having their dates delayed due to network driven reasons, with 75 projects affected (less than a third) being affected by developer driven delays.

Ofgem indicate that, if it remains feasible to retain the existing date and location then NESO and the TOs must offer that date and where this is simply not possible, the best and most ambitious date possible should be offered, provided this is realistic, accurate, and made in good faith.

Impact

The impact of both the delays and loss of protection on the developer community cannot be overstated. Projects due to deliver in 2026 and 2027 have been and continue to operate under material uncertainty. Projects that are shovel ready have been delayed with FID/project finance and M+A activity all affected. The projects most likely to deliver towards achieving Government 2030 targets are no better off as a result of Connections Reform, and in many cases have struggled to progress into financing and construction.

The knock-on effects of the length of time it’s taking to issue Gate 2 offers is also very material, and it’s unclear how projects are being managed and progressed by NESO/TOs and DNOs in this interim period.

Underlying these difficulties are serious and real issues – how long it takes to consent grid assets, the availability of the engineering and supply chain resources required to deliver those assets, and the inherent uncertainty of developing largescale infrastructure.

Difficult problems, but ones that must be resolved if the 2030 clean energy targets are to be achieved. It is clearer now than ever; there will be no transition without transmission.

If you have any questions about any of the topics raised in this article, please get in touch with our Clean Energy team.

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