For years, a queue of over 700 GW — four times what Britain needs by 2030 — blocked viable clean energy
projects from connecting. In December 2025, NESO completed the largest connections reform in a generation.
Here's what the new pipeline actually looks like, by the public numbers.
— Pre-reform queue
722GW
Roughly 4× what 2030 actually needs
→
TMO4+ reform
— Delivery pipeline
283GW
Generation & storage, post-reform
Phase 1 — by 2030
132GW
aligned with Clean Power 2030
Phase 2 — by 2035
151GW
strategic build-out tranche
Demand pipeline
99GW
transmission-connected demand
Investment unlocked
£40bn
per year (NESO estimate)
Figure 01
From a bloated queue to a deliverable pipeline
Under first-come, first-served rules, the queue had grown tenfold in five years. Speculative projects
with no planning consent or land rights could occupy capacity for a decade, blocking ready-to-build
schemes. The reform sorts the queue by what's ready and needed, not by who got there first.
Queue composition · before and after reform (GW)
Already built
Phase 1 — to 2030
Phase 2 — to 2035
Deprioritised (Gate 1)
Pre-reform
722 GW
Post-reform
382 GW*
* Includes ~111 GW already built. 217+ GW moved to Gate 1 (deprioritised).
The signal in the noise
The point of the reform isn't to clear projects from a queue. It's to make the queue itself a meaningful
signal of what will be built — rather than a backlog of options held against an uncertain future.
Figure 02
Which technologies made it through
The 283 GW pipeline split by technology. Click between tabs to see how each technology fared, with
the standouts being battery storage (queue cut by 65%), offshore wind (well-aligned with CP30), and
onshore wind (a sharp Scotland/England-Wales divide).
Pipeline by technology · Phase 1 + Phase 2 (GW)
Phase 1 (to 2030)
Phase 2 (to 2035)
283 GW total — split as 132 GW Phase 1 (aligned with Clean Power 2030 targets) and
151 GW Phase 2 (needed by 2035). A further ~111 GW is already built and operational, meaning GB's
total committed capacity substantially exceeds CP30 requirements.
The most dramatic story of the reform. The pre-reform queue contained ~235 GW of
battery projects — nearly six times what CP30 requires. Only 83 GW received Gate 2 status, and
the next application window will be effectively closed to new battery-only projects.
Battery storage · queue, pipeline, target, and built (GW)
Pre-reform queue
~235 GW
New pipeline
83 GW
CP30 target
23–27 GW
Built today
~5 GW
Why so many batteries still made it through: protection clauses honoured developers
who had invested significantly — those with planning consent, land rights, or CfD/CM contracts.
Even at 83 GW, the pipeline is a 16× scale-up from today's installed base.
Solar fared well overall — almost 30 GW received Phase 1 status, with another ~30 GW
in Phase 2. But the picture is highly zonal: most zones are undersupplied for Phase 1 due to a
shortage of ready projects, while Phase 2 shows oversupply in some areas.
Solar pipeline vs CP30 target (GW)
Phase 1
~30 GW
CP30 target
~47 GW*
Phase 2
~30 GW
* CP30 solar target includes rooftop solar not counted in the connections pipeline; effective
total capacity is higher than these numbers alone suggest.
Sharp regional divide. Scotland is heavily oversubscribed and effectively closed to
new applications. England & Wales is undersupplied and will be open to "ready" projects in
the H2 2026 application window.
Onshore wind · zonal status for the next application window
Offshore wind fared very well. This is the technology most aligned with CP30.
Offshore projects aren't zonal in the same way as onshore — NESO confirmed that the 132 GW Phase 1
pipeline includes ~50 GW of offshore wind by 2030 (per the government's CP30 Action Plan).
Offshore wind · CP30 pathway targets (GW)
Pathway 1 target
50 GW by 2030
Pathway 2 target
43 GW by 2030
Built today
~15 GW
Offshore wind is NESO's primary lever for CP30. The Holistic Network Design and tCSNP publications
set out the network reinforcements needed to accommodate this scale — substantial new transmission
infrastructure across the east coasts of England and Scotland.
Beyond the headline technologies, the pipeline includes nuclear, hydrogen, long-duration storage,
transitional gas (with CCS), and interconnectors. These are nationally allocated rather than zonal.
Other technologies in the pipeline (GW)
Phase 1
Phase 2
Figure 03
99 GW of new demand — the data centre surge
The reform headlines focus on generation, but transmission-connected demand has exploded.
Contracted demand jumped from 41 GW in November 2024 to 125 GW by June 2025 — a three-fold
increase in seven months, driven largely by data centres (designated Critical National Infrastructure
in September 2024) and industrial decarbonisation projects.
— Total pipeline
99GW
Industry, data centres, EV infrastructure, hydrogen production
— Phase 1, by 2030
13GW
NESO assessment of what's connectable before the CP30 deadline
— Phase 2, 2031–2035
86GW
Long pipeline driven by data centres and industrial decarbonisation
Demand is now growing faster than NESO's previous forecasts assumed. The Demand Queue
Call for Input launched in 2025 is NESO's attempt to understand and manage this surge — a problem the
original Connections Reform design didn't anticipate at this scale.
Figure 04
Where the door's open — and where it's closed
Permitted capacity remaining for the H2 2026 application window. Projects must demonstrate both
readiness (planning consent, land rights, financial instruments) and strategic alignment with the
CP30 Action Plan to qualify.
Figure 05
How we got here, and what's next
Connections Reform has moved fast by industry standards. From Ofgem approval to first results in
eight months, with the next application window opening in H2 2026.