Connection fees have increased for projects over 1MW in size.
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Farmers planning renewable electricity generation projects will face less speculation but higher fees in some cases to connect to the national grid, according to new rules published by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU).
The new policy replaces the current 36GW queue of applicants – many of them developers of solar farms on agricultural land – with successive batches of connections. The first batch will open this year for projects totalling around 1GW. A separate, lighter process is opening for projects under 500kW in size, such as rooftop solar panels on farm sheds, with a limit of only 30 applications per year.
Only projects with planning permission will get a connection and “speculative” transfers of grid offers from one location to another will end after a three-month last-chance window.
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Applicants who had not yet obtained a connection offer must re-apply under new rules. Generation connection fees for projects over 1MW have increased, but the CRU has rejected ESB Networks’ request to hike fees for smaller projects.
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Farmers planning renewable electricity generation projects will face less speculation but higher fees in some cases to connect to the national grid, according to new rules published by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU).
The new policy replaces the current 36GW queue of applicants – many of them developers of solar farms on agricultural land – with successive batches of connections. The first batch will open this year for projects totalling around 1GW. A separate, lighter process is opening for projects under 500kW in size, such as rooftop solar panels on farm sheds, with a limit of only 30 applications per year.
Only projects with planning permission will get a connection and “speculative” transfers of grid offers from one location to another will end after a three-month last-chance window.
Applicants who had not yet obtained a connection offer must re-apply under new rules. Generation connection fees for projects over 1MW have increased, but the CRU has rejected ESB Networks’ request to hike fees for smaller projects.
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