GB code panel votes on letting Gate 2 projects delay their connection dates

Victoria Shinder02 October 2026, 07:512 min read

The panel that governs Great Britain's Connection and Use of System Code is due to vote on 2 October on CMP471, a proposal to let renewable and other projects caught in the grid queue reform delay their contracted connection dates. The National Energy System Operator published the draft final modification report for the vote, with a final report due on 5 October. The decision then rests with Ofgem, the regulator, under an urgent timetable.

The problem the change addresses comes from the reform itself. Since NESO paused new connection applications in January 2025 and began re-ordering the queue, a process known as Gate 2 to Whole Queue, projects with existing agreements have not been able to change their contracted completion dates. Under current rules such a request counts as a gated application, which can only be made in a gated application window, and the timing of the first one remains uncertain. With the re-ordering expected to finish in April 2027, followed by around three months to stabilise the queue, the proposer says developers face about 30 months, from January 2025 to July 2027, in which their dates are frozen even as real delivery programmes move.

That matters because contracted dates drive money. The report says a date that no longer matches a realistic programme exposes developers to disproportionate capital contributions, cancellation charges and security requirements, and that many have been unable to order long-lead equipment, sign construction contracts or raise debt and equity while the risk is unresolved.

CMP471 would create a temporary, time-limited process for projects expecting a Gate 2 modification offer to request a later completion date without a full gated application, subject to a system impact assessment by the transmission owner. Three alternatives were developed: moving all project milestones in line with the new date, requiring proof of exceptional delays beyond the developer's control, or obliging NESO to grant matching milestone delays of up to 18 months. The workgroup concluded by majority that the original proposal is better than the current baseline, and the consultation received 18 non-confidential responses and one confidential one. Every option would take effect 10 business days after Ofgem decides.

Why it matters

Queue reform was meant to clear speculative projects and speed up real ones. Freezing every contract date for two and a half years risks pushing viable projects into the cancellation charges the reform was supposed to spare them, which is the trade-off the panel and Ofgem now have to weigh.