The Connectology® Podcast by Roadnight Taylor

Welcome to another Grid News and Views podcast, where this month, Connectologists® Pete Aston, Nikki Pillinger and Kyle Murchie are unpacking some of the most current and upcoming topics in grid connections.    Beginning by touching on technical limits, they discuss the projects that benefit, the pros and cons of dates being brought forward, and what good and bad technical offers look like.  This...

In this episode of the Connectology® Podcast, Catherine Cleary is joined by Laura Henry, Electricity Policy and Change Manager at the Electricity System Operator (National Grid ESO). They discuss the progress and impact of the various tactical initiatives that the ESO has implemented since it launched its five point plan in February 2023, and what work is left to do aside from Connections Reform i...

All five of our Connectologists® come together in this Grid News and Views episode of the Connectology® Podcast to discuss hot industry topics, including: The delay in NGESO’s two-step offer process and the knock-on implications for connections customers Publication of the ESO’s ‘Beyond 2030’ report Clock starting and milestones for connection offers and mod apps The new letter of authority requir...

This podcast, with guests Adam Miller and Nick Clark of ESP Utilities Group Ltd, helps the varying connections customer types to understand the independent distribution network operator (IDNO) market, how it is segregated and what IDNO connections have to offer for their development projects.   Recorded October 2023 This content was recorded on an earlier date. The connections landscape changes ra...

In this podcast, Roadnight Taylor's Connectologists® Kyle Murchie, Pete Aston and Catherine Cleary discuss the Hydrogen development market and various opportunities and challenges around connecting the different types of hydrogen projects to the grid, including: how connections challenges differ from batteries and generation the ambitious Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HAR) connection timeframes regu...

With some 700 schemes about to receive an agreement to vary from National Grid ESO, Connectologists® Kyle Murchie, Pete Aston and Catherine Cleary set out the three reasons why, the differences between these cohorts and the risks and opportunities associated with each. They explore accelerated connection opportunities, connection offer milestones, curtailment risk and securities implications. They...

In this Grid News and Views episode of the Connectology® Podcast, Roadnight Taylor's Pete Aston hosts colleagues Nikki Pillinger, Philip Bale and Kyle Murchie as they discuss National Grid ESO and the DNOs' progress with the Technical Limits initiative, and: How valid is the data behind your DNO curtailment assessment? The milestones calculator for transmission-connecting projects   The migration...

On this podcast, three of Roadnight Taylor’s elite connections engineers – Connectologists® Catherine Cleary, Pete Aston and Kyle Murchie – explore the history, the mechanism's, strengths, weaknesses and the risks associated with connection offer milestones at transmission - an entirely new thing - which are being impemented following CUSC modification CMP376. There are also links in the descripti...

In this Grid news and views’ episode, Pete Aston hosts colleagues Catherine Cleary and Philip Bale - as well as the freshly-minted fifth Connectologist®, Kyle Murchie - as they discuss National Grid ESO's progress with two-step offers, when this will come to an end, and:   The proposed/impending introduction of LOAs (letters of authority) at transmission Progress on large transmission reinforcemen...

With increasing levels of risk and complexity associated with investments in large-scale energy projects – not least with regards their grid connections – it is no surprise that investors are increasingly seeking the highest levels of specialised grid expertise for their connection due diligence. In this podcast, two of Roadnight Taylor’s elite connection specialists – Connectologists® Catherine C...

Changes both to Distribution Network Operators' modelling of curtailment and to their real-time operation of ANM schemes are impacting on developers' and investors' abilities to make informed investment decisions - and may lead to significant lost yield over and above what would have been anticipated on any given project. In this shifting landscape it pays to be informed in order to identify those...

Two of our Connectologists®, specialist connections engineers Pete Aston and Philip Bale, discuss the new rules regarding the treatment of Battery Energy Storage Schemes (BESS) by Distribution Network Operator (DNOs) with regards to network connections. The change is as a result of the ENA's three-point plan to accelerate connections and came into force on 30 September 2023. This is an important,...

In this Grid news and views’ episode, Connectologist® Nikki Pillinger hosts colleagues Catherine Cleary and Philip Bale as they report back from National Grid ESO's customer connections seminar on 16 October, and in addition:   1) Update on the Technical Limits initiative phasing, assessments and timings 2) Flag that DNO's re-assessment of asset ratings is bringing about significantly higher level...

With connection timescales in the late 2030s becoming the new normal for distribution connections, the ENA's Technical Limits initiative seeks to better utilise transmission headroom at each GSP in order to accelerate connections of smaller, more agile projects that are ready to connect. In this episode Roadnight Taylor's four Connectologists® help developers and investors to understand the implic...

Our team of Connectologists® return for a third podcast in their ‘Grid news and views’ series to discuss some of the most important updates in their field. In this episode our influential connection specialists, among other news, discuss the latest intervention from the ENA and Ofgem regarding the treatment of storage. Additionally, the podcast addresses a range of topical threads: Changes to the...

With the choice of applying for a Bilateral Embedded Generator Agreement (BEGA) or a Bilateral Embedded Licence Exemptible Large Generator Agreement (BELLA) having such high potential impacts on the viability, cost or timing of a connection - and therefore on a project - it pays to understand the implications as well as the high-level choices you will have to make. Diligent development Directors a...

Insights to help you understand projects’ abnormal running risks, and how to mitigate them. With the levels of risk involved in consenting or acquiring transmission-connected projects, understanding outage risk should be near the top of any good Development or Investment Director's list. In this podcast hosted by Pete Aston, two other Roadnight Taylor elite connection specialists (Connectologists®...

Our team of Connectologists® return for a second podcast in their ‘Grid news and views’ series to discuss some of the most important updates in their field. In this second episode our influential connection specialists, among other news, discuss National Grid’s long term connections reform piece, exploring the changes it results in, and when we can expect an industry update. Additionally, the podc...

Our four Connectologists® get together again to give their views on some of the key news topics in the connections industry. Among other topics they discuss: NGESO's recent letter about battery connections being able to connect ahead of non-critical enabling works experiences with older schemes without milestones being chased by DNOs, as mentioned in the ENA's three-point plan slow DNO project pro...

In this Connectology® podcast, two of Roadnight Taylor's Connectologists® - Specialist Connections Engineer, Catherine Cleary, and Specialist Connections Manager, Nikki Pillinger - discuss the perils and pitfalls to avoid once a great grid connection offer has been accepted. Recorded April 2023 This content was recorded on an earlier date. The connections landscape changes rapidly, so please treat...

The risk of outages on project revenues often trumps ANM curtailment risk, having already cost investors, on individual projects, more than £10 million. These revenue risks rise with connection voltage, connection scale, and the volume of connections being made. Even a cursory look at the ECRs suggest that many portfolios will be harbouring multiple ticking timebombs.  In this podcast, Pete Aston...

Under the new connection charging and access rules that came into force on 01 April 2023 (SCR), when DNOs provide a curtailable connection they will be required to compensate connected customers for any curtailment above a prescribed level. Curtailed connections may be enduring but may only be interim whilst the DNO carries out reinforcements at their own cost. Either way they will become common-p...

For the first time, all four of Roadnight Taylor's Connectologists® - Pete Aston, Catherine Cleary, Philip Bale and Nikki Pillinger are together on the same podcast. In this episode they are discussing the recent connections reform output from National Grid ESO and the Energy Networks Association, as well as Ofgem's open letter on future reform to the electricity connections process, in which it i...

Energy scheme developers make big calls in deciding whether to take projects forward into planning – and investors make even bigger calls at Final Investment Decision (FID). Increasingly, there will be at least some risk of curtailment associated with their connections, and often all that they will have to go on is a curtailment report issued by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO). In this pod...

The second in a series of Pete Aston’s look at the HPC project, aimed at helping developers with connection offers understand the effect that transmission reinforcement work has on their projects.  Pete is joined by The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox, MP for North Somerset, recorded in his office in Parliament. Dr Fox talks about the national need for energy, and the challenges the HPC major infrastructure pr...