Renewable energy developers across England and Wales could lose millions of pounds in revenue over the lifespan of their projects, due to planned circuit outages on the grid.
That’s according to new analysis from Roadnight Taylor, which warns that some large-scale renewable schemes may face as much as four weeks of downtime each year, threatening investor returns.
Roadnight Taylor, an independent specialist grid consultancy, found that over 8% of projects connecting at 132 kV in England and Wales alone will each experience significant outage periods spanning decades of operation. It highlights how maintenance, reinforcement, and the growing pipeline of connections for renewables and energy-intensive installations — such as data centres — are likely to force more regular disconnections to allow works to be carried out safely.
Hugh Taylor, CEO of Roadnight Taylor, commented, “It is likely that developers are unaware of the weeks and months of outage risks that many of their projects will be carrying. The pipeline of projects seeking to connect to the 132 kV distribution and transmission networks, and increasingly the 275 kV and 400 kV networks, is ramping up.
“Consequently, this is simultaneously increasing both occurrences of planned outages and the scale of income risk to affected investors. Investors that have not assessed this impact for the full lifespan of projects across their portfolios are at risk of lost revenues totalling tens of millions of pounds, perhaps hundreds in some cases, which is largely avoidable. The expertise is available to manage this risk, no matter if the project is already acquired.”
According to Roadnight Taylor, in one instance, a 132 kV wind farm in Wales ran smoothly for its first five years, only for its developer to be notified of a seven-month outage — an event poised to cost an estimated £5 million in lost revenue.
That’s why it’s important to do thorough due diligence at every stage of development, including connection offer reviews and acquisitions, that can help minimise this risk. By understanding each project’s single-circuit configuration and working proactively with electricity network operators, developers may be able to reduce downtime and avoid unexpected costs.