How Big Is the UK Grid Connection Queue?
741 GW of power projects are contracted to connect to the GB grid, but only 87 GW is actually built and 70.6% has not even reached a planning application. Here is what the queue looks like, and why a real grid connection is the scarcest thing a solar or battery developer needs from your land.
Source: NESO TEC register · 2,225 projects · Updated 13 October 2026
How big is the UK grid connection queue?
As of 13 October 2026, 741 GW of generation and storage is contracted to connect to the GB transmission grid across 2,225 projects. Only 87 GW is built and connected; the other 653 GW is still in the queue. Crucially, 70.6% of all contracted capacity (523 GW) is at the earliest "Scoping" stage, meaning NESO is not aware of a planning application for it. Solar accounts for 239 GW, of which 94.7% is co-located with battery storage.
The takeaway for landowners: capacity on paper is abundant, but a deliverable grid connection is scarce, and that is what a developer is really paying for. Land that already sits near available grid capacity is worth far more than a speculative queue position. Check where your land stands.
Reform context: the queue is being reordered
The figures above are the raw NESO TEC register. Under NESO's connections reform ("First Ready, First Connected"), that contracted stack is being cut to an ordered pipeline: 283 GW of Gate 2 offers out to 2035 (132 GW connecting before 2030), with the rest held on a Gate 1 waiting list or removed. By June 2026 NESO had issued Gate 2 offers to 713 of the 1,223 projects in the 2030 pipeline (58%, about 37 GW).
The register itself records a gate only once the reformed contract is countersigned. As of 13 October 2026, of the capacity not yet built, 16.4 GW (107 projects) holds a countersigned Gate 2 contract, 299.6 GW (819) Gate 1, and 337.4 GW (914) is still on a pre-reform contract.
To hold a Gate 2 place a project now needs planning permission and land rights, which is exactly why secured, near-grid land is the scarce asset. Note the register is transmission-level with no per-site geography, so these are national totals, not a site-level lookup.
The queue at a glance
Where the queue actually stands
Most of the headline capacity is nowhere near being built. Projects move through five stages, from speculative "Scoping" to "Built". Only 87.1 GW of the 740.5 GW total is energised today.
| Project status | Capacity (GW) | Projects | Share of GW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoping | 522.6 | 1,414 | 71% |
| Awaiting Consents | 66.7 | 171 | 9% |
| Consents Approved | 56.4 | 212 | 8% |
| Under Construction/Commissioning | 7.7 | 43 | 1% |
| Built | 87.1 | 385 | 12% |
What is in the queue, by technology
Battery storage dominates the pipeline, and the great majority of new solar is now paired with it. Because co-located sites carry more than one technology, a solar-plus-battery project is counted under both, so these figures overlap and do not sum to the total.
| Technology | Capacity (GW) | Projects |
|---|---|---|
| Battery / energy storage | 483.1 | 1,525 |
| Solar PV | 238.5 | 621 |
| Offshore wind | 132.7 | 150 |
| Onshore wind | 83.1 | 513 |
| Gas (CCGT / OCGT) | 82.6 | 106 |
| Nuclear | 33.1 | 28 |
| Interconnectors | 1.8 | 1 |
When projects are contracted to connect
Connection dates for unbuilt projects stretch well into the 2030s. This is the queue "stretching out": far more capacity is contracted than the grid can absorb in any one year, so dates slip years into the future.
Where the queue clusters
The connection points (grid supply points and transmission substations) with the most contracted capacity. These are the parts of the network developers are competing hardest to connect to.
| # | Connection site | Contracted (GW) | Projects |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alverdiscott 400kV Substation | 13.4 | 16 |
| 2 | Creyke Beck 400kV Substation | 9.1 | 7 |
| 3 | Norwich Main 400kV Substation | 8.4 | 7 |
| 4 | Drax 400kV Substation | 8.2 | 3 |
| 5 | Grimsby West 400kV Substation | 6.6 | 7 |
| 6 | Longside 400kV Substation | 6.5 | 6 |
| 7 | Trent Valley South Connection Node D 400kV Substation | 6.4 | 4 |
| 8 | East Claydon 400kV Substation | 6.2 | 7 |
| 9 | Sizewell 400kV Substation | 6.2 | 3 |
| 10 | Branxton 400kV Substation | 5.8 | 5 |
| 11 | Navenby 400kV Substation | 5.6 | 9 |
| 12 | Trent Valley South Connection Node C 400kV Substation | 5.4 | 11 |
| 13 | Birkhill Wood 400kV Substation | 5.2 | 5 |
| 14 | Cheshire Connection Node A 400kV Substation | 5.1 | 4 |
| 15 | Greens 400kV Substation | 5.1 | 4 |
What this means if you own land
- A grid connection is the real prize. With 523 GW of speculative capacity chasing limited network headroom, developers value land that can actually connect, not another paper queue position.
- Expect solar-plus-battery. 94.7% of queued solar is co-located with storage, so an approach for your land will often be for a combined scheme.
- Proximity to capacity beats acreage alone. A smaller site near available grid capacity can be more attractive than a large site far from it.
- Timelines are long. Connection dates run into the 2030s, so option agreements and exclusivity periods are written around multi-year horizons.
Methodology & caveats
- Source: the National Energy System Operator (NESO) Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) register, pulled live from the NESO data portal API and last updated by NESO on 13 October 2026.
- Scope: the TEC register covers projects connecting to (or affecting) the high-voltage transmission network. It captures large generation and storage projects but not smaller, distribution-connected sites, which sit on each network operator's Embedded Capacity Register. Figures here therefore describe the national, large-scale queue.
- Capacity: based on each project's "Cumulative Total Capacity (MW)". Staged projects (which appear as several rows) are de-duplicated to one record each, so capacity is not double-counted. 2,225 register rows resolve to 2,225 distinct projects.
- Technology buckets overlap. "Plant Type" can list several technologies for a co-located site. A solar-plus-battery project is counted under both solar and storage, so the technology rows do not sum to the total. The non-overlapping totals are the headline figures.
- Status: as classified by NESO. "Scoping" means NESO is not aware of a planning application; "Awaiting Consents" means one has been made; "Consents Approved" means it has been granted. These are recorded on an "as far as we are aware" basis.
- No site geography. The TEC register locates projects only by their connection point (a grid supply point or substation name), not by postcode or coordinates, so this page does not map projects to your specific area. For a location-based view, use the grid capacity check.
How to cite this data
This dataset is free to quote with a link. Suggested citation:
SolarGridCheck (2026). The UK Grid Connection Queue. Derived from the NESO Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) register (13 October 2026). https://solargridcheck.co.uk/uk-grid-connection-queue
Frequently asked questions
How big is the UK grid connection queue?
About 741 GW of generation and storage is contracted to connect to the GB transmission grid across 2,225 projects, but only 87 GW is built and connected today. The rest, roughly 653 GW, is still working through the queue.
Why is the grid queue so much bigger than what is needed?
Much of it is speculative. 70.6% of all contracted capacity (523 GW) is at the "Scoping" stage, where NESO is not aware of any planning application. Historically it cost little to hold a queue position, so far more capacity was contracted than the network can absorb, which is what connections reform is now trying to fix.
How much solar is in the grid connection queue?
Solar PV accounts for about 239 GW across 621 projects. Of that, 94.7% is co-located with battery storage, so most new solar in the queue is part of a combined solar-and-battery scheme.
What does the grid queue mean for landowners?
It means a deliverable grid connection, not land area on its own, is the scarce resource developers pay for. Land near available grid capacity is far more attractive than a speculative queue position. The free grid capacity check shows where your land sits relative to nearby substations.
What is the TEC register?
The Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) register is published by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). It lists projects that hold, or are contracted to hold, capacity rights on the GB transmission network, with each project's capacity, connection point and build status. This page aggregates the register into a national picture of the connection queue.
Related resources
- → Free Grid Capacity Check Tool
- → Grid Queue Reform & How to Improve Your Connection Position
- → UK Solar Farm Planning Data by County
- → Solar Farm Income Per Acre (2026 Rates)
- → Land Requirements for a Solar Farm
- → Sell or Lease Your Land for Solar?
- → UK Solar Developers Directory