Pragmatism key to connecting renewables developers to the grid - The Yorkshire Post says

And there is clearly a need to act faster when it comes to deployment of renewable energy. Warning signs over climate change can no longer be ignored.

But as is far too often the case with infrastructure, bureaucracy is weighing down on the development of renewable energy.

That is why the regulator Ofgem is right to scrap the current first-come, first-served approach to the grid connections queue with some projects left facing decade-long delays.

Developers have complained for years about the time it takes to get a cable to connect their wind or solar farm to the grid.

The fast tracking of connecting projects to the grid will help unlock much needed economic growth here.

Ofgem estimates that about two-thirds of projects in the queue as of February last year will be “deprioritised” for not being urgent enough.

As many as 40 per cent of the schemes are speculative and will never be built, Ofgem said.

However, if a project is ready to go, then it should be plugged in. Pragmatism needs to be at the heart of the approach to net zero. That includes protecting vital agricultural land. Food security is just as important as energy security.

The Government needs to take a more holistic view when it comes to greenlighting more solar farms. Covering the countryside in glass and metal when there is so much rooftop space available does not make sense.

Solar farms on useful agricultural land should be a position of last resort. They should not be used as a shortcut to net zero.