As the Electricity System Operator for Great Britain, National Grid ESO (NGESO) manages the connection and generation contracts that impact on the transmission system. We work closely with Transmission Owners (TOs) to support customer connections.

In this section, we’ve got everything you need to understand the connections process. Including what you need to do to connect to, or make use of the National Electricity Transmission System (NETS).

If you need any more help, please contact us.

An evolving electricity system 

Over recent years rapid progress has been made to decarbonise the electricity system and deliver cleaner energy for all. 

This has translated into an unprecedented growth in applications to connect to the transmission system. In a relatively short time, we’ve seen the electricity system transform from a smaller number of large fossil fuel generators to a diverse range of supplies, including renewable generation and storage. The system also needs to adapt to meet new demand for electricity. Yet, the process for connecting to the electricity transmission system, written nearly 20 years ago and designed for fewer, larger power plants connecting to the system, has remained largely unchanged. 

The challenge

To keep up with the pace of change, we need to reform how projects connect to the electricity transmission system to deliver benefits to consumers as soon as possible. 

As of February 2023, there were over 250GW of projects contracted to connect to the transmission system, compared to around 80GW of connected generation already on the system and just in this financial year (21/22), there has been an 84% increase in applications to connect. Ensuring the physical electricity system can quickly adapt to meet these demands has become a key priority.

More from Connections

FAQs

See our bank of frequently asked questions. They’ve been put together by the people who answer your questions every day.

Contact the Connections team

Our dedicated team of ESO Connection Contract Managers will be happy to guide you through the connections process and answer your questions.

Looking for domestic Connections?

We don’t connect directly to homes or other domestic properties. You can find out more about domestic connections here.

Glossary of terms

Browse our connections glossary of terms for descriptions and definition of acronyms, abbreviations and commonly used terms.