News

Our TNEI USA team recently attended the American CLEANPOWER conference in Phoenix from May 19-22 at the Phoenix Convention Center.  The conference drew over 8,000 attendees and 500 exhibitors. This is an annual conference for the renewable energy sector showcasing products, services, and advancements for clean energy based projects.  It was an informative 4 day event with great networking opportunities highlighting Q1 2025 installations (4.5GW of utility scale solar, 1.6GW of grid facing energy storage, and 1.3GW of land based wind) as well as the domestic manufacturing & economic impact of clean energy. Speakers and presenters continued to highlight the large increase in electricity demand throughout the US being driven by AI, data centers, the electrification of transportation, and the importance of good grid interconnections to ensure supply security.  The next conference is scheduled for June 1–4, 2026, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX. Read more here

Today Ofgem published its decision to approve the CUSC code modifications “CMP434: Implementing Connections Reform” and “CMP435: Application of Gate 2 Criteria to Existing Contracted Background”. This is an important change to the grid connection process and has significant impacts on wider industry. Under the previous connections process the connection queue had grown roughly double in size compared to the capacity set out in the Holistic Transition Future Energy Scenario. The new process will move to a gated process with bi-annual application windows. It is expected to facilitate accelerated connections for projects which are ready to connect and are deemed needed. Ofgem Decision Ofgem has approved CMP434 Workgroup Alternative CUSC Modification (WACM) 2. Ofgem has approved the original proposal for CMP345. These decisions deviate slightly from the minded-to position published in February and no longer require the inclusion of a market self-regulating pause. The inclusion of WACM2 gives DNOs and

Ireland’s progression to a renewable-powered grid is well underway, but high levels of dispatch down pose a significant challenge. Developers face lost revenue, the grid struggles with congestion, and Ireland’s ambitious 80% renewable electricity target by 2030 becomes more a notion than a reality. Since the release of Shaping Our Electricity Future, we’ve already burned through half the decade—a decade that demands bold decisions, radical reform, and aggressive action. The time for incremental change is over. At TNEI, we pride ourselves on listening to our clients and evolving to meet their needs. Traditionally, technical network constraints assessments have been highly bespoke, tailored to individual project requirements. However, through ongoing conversations with our clients, we have heard a consistent request for a faster, more efficient way to access high-quality network constraints analysis—without compromising accuracy or reliability. In response, we have developed our customised On-Demand Dispatch Down Report. Designed to provide rapid

The Capacity Market was introduced in 2014 as part of the Electricity Market Reform programme to ensure the future security of our electricity supply. Energy generation and/or storage providers are paid to ensure they’re available to meet the demands of the electricity grid when there is a high risk that available supply of energy would be lower than demand.   Potential participants in the capacity market enter into an auction to secure an agreement. There are usually two capacity auctions each year:  T-4 – is the main auction. This auction secures the majority of the capacity required four years from the auction date. This year, the auction date is 11th March.  T-1 – these are additional auctions that are run in order to secure additional capacity just ahead of each delivery year. This year, the auction date is 4th March.  Capacity Market Units (CMUs) that are awarded a Capacity Market Agreement

SONI have announced their new strategy for 2025 – 2031. The strategy is structured around four strategic ambitions (Advise, Plan, Deliver and Operate). SONI have identified their desire to place themselves as a key strategic adviser across the energy space, to engage with the public, to deliver the best outcomes for all and to continue operating a secure and reliable system. All of these are commendable goals which are arguably the core remit of the TSO in Northern Ireland. But what does this mean for the energy transition in Northern Ireland? Is this strategy a step change in approach or more of the same? The strategy may at first seem lacking in detail, but, digging deeper and looking at the wider picture of what is happening in Northern Ireland, these are interesting times. What’s that coming over the hill, is it an 80% renewable target?! As with any strategy, there

The energy industry is now on the verge of a significant change, with 2025 bringing the implementation of Connections Reform in Great Britain (GB). On 20th December, NESO submitted two CUSC Final Modification Proposals to Ofgem for approval for CMP 434: Implementing Connections Reform, and CMP 435: Application of Gate 2 Criteria to existing contracted background. Why change? The GB Connections Reform proposals have been developed to address the rising number of generators waiting to connect to the grid – often referred to as the “connections queue”. Under the current ‘first come, first served’ process, the rate of connection applications has far exceeded the pace at which the NESO, Transmission Owners (TOs), and Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) can get projects connected to their networks, leading to a backlog of generation in the queue far greater than will be needed to meet the country’s energy demands by 2050. CMP 434 – Looking