Reducing the cost of workplace charging infrastructure

National Grid has provided fleets with guidance on how they can procure charging infrastructure and upgrade costs for local substation enhancements.

At a recent Fleet200 Strategy Network meeting, Kester Jones (pictured), head of connections at National Grid, advised on using the Access Significant Code Review (SCR) rules to help reduce costs when it comes to installing charging infrastructure.

The rules came into force on April 1, 2023 and runs until 2028. National Grid said for applications received from April 1, connecting customers will not pay all or some of the reinforcement (upgrading works to ensure the network in the local area is of sufficient capacity) element of their connection charge.

Reinforcement costs will also be socialised as National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) funded reinforcement.

National Grid said it applies to all reinforcement for demand customers and for generation customers, it applies to “one voltage level up”. Both are subject to the high-cost cap.

Ofgem aims to open up the network for connections, as National Grid said it will see increased applications and less customers deterred by the cost due to the increased number of acceptances.

Jones added: “Previously, anybody wanting to connect to the network would pay 100% of the extension assets – the network or the cabling between your point of connection and the connection to the network and historically customers would have paid 100% of the reinforcement charge.

“But now, any reinforcement costs are fully funded by the DNO and we get that money back into our price control settlement – which is essentially going to lead to cheaper connections and projects that may not have been financially viable previously.”

National Grid said it is digitising connections and the connections processes and has apps that provide information (constraint maps), tools and data online for customers to optioneer, self-quote and manage their enquiry.

In December 2022, National Grid launched its self-serve application. 1,074 applications have been completed (up to end March 2023), where 60% were approved.

National Grid also recommended phased capacity management. It said this approach recognised that, for larger schemes, customers need to evidence that the capacity is secured for the development to support planning and funding applications, whilst the detailed information may not be know at this stage.

It allows capacity to be “drawn down” in phases subject to agreed progression milestones being met – essentially the installation of bigger assets that may not become the “minimum scheme” assets until years later but save time and costs by not having to upgrade the network every few years. Find out more about phased capacity management here.