New requirements have been made in EREC G59 in the Distribution Code. All owners of generation sites must make these Loss of Mains changes by 1 September 2022. By making them in the ALoMCP, owners can take advantage of financial support to carry out the work.

Since the ALoMCP launched in September 2019, many sites have been updated to meet the new code requirements. Good progress has been made, but more changes need to be made quickly to reduce increased balancing costs and help National Grid ESO run the grid more efficiently.

Grants are available through quarterly application windows. Generators are encouraged to apply as soon as they can on the registration portal ahead of the final application deadline on 10 May 2022. The amount of funding available for each site’s changes will reduce for those sites completing the updates after 22 May 2022.

A fast track process has been introduced to reduce increased Loss of Mains costs resulting from the reduction in electricity demand from COVID-19 lockdown. Eligible distributed generators are urged to apply before March 2021 to claim additional funding.

The fast track process offers an additional payment of £5,000 to distributed generation sites that meet specific criteria and can commit to making required Loss of Mains protection changes quickly.

Owners of sites that meet the following criteria are encouraged to apply via the registration portal before March 2021:

• minimum 500kW site registered capacity
• Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCoF) Loss of Mains protection type
• up to and including 0.2 Hz/s pre-change RoCoF settings
• less than or equal to 4 weeks lead time to complete the changes.
   

Applying for the Accelerated Loss of Mains Change Programme is easy.

Step 1

Check if your generation site needs to make the Loss of Mains changes. You can read this process flow to check if you do, or you can contact your local DNO if you need more support. 

Note: This Programme does not apply to domestic and similar generation that has been connected under EREC G83. It only applies to generation connected before 01 February 2018 in accordance with EREC G59.

To apply to the fast track process, make sure your site meets the specific qualifying criteria.

• minimum 500kW but less than 5MW site registered capacity
• Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCoF) Loss of Mains protection type
• up to and including 0.2 Hz/s pre-change RoCoF settings
• less than or equal to 4 weeks lead time to complete the changes.

Step 2

Head over to the registration portal on the ENA website. We’ll be using this to assess all applications.
 

Since the Accelerated Loss of Mains Change Programme launched in September 2019, we've helped many sites to make the changes to meet the new settings requirements.

The ALoMCP is led by National Grid ESO, the Energy Networks Association, Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) and Independent Distribution Network Operators (IDNOs).

The Programme Steering Group ensures that the views of key stakeholders are considered in the overall management of the Programme as well its delivery by network licensees. It makes sure that the ALoMCP is run efficiently and for the benefit of stakeholders and consumers.

Curious about what happens in the meetings? Read the minutes from the Programme Steering Group.