CMP470 proposes fee to clear GB's bloated BESS connection queue

Great Britain's grid connection queue for battery storage has become a bottleneck. CMP470, a proposed Connection and Use of System Code modification published by Modo Energy, would impose a fee on projects that hold connection offers without committing to build: a direct attempt to flush speculative capacity.

The mechanism targets the core problem: developers secure connection dates at low cost, then sit on offers while viable projects queue behind them. A financial charge changes that calculus. Similar queue-management tools have been debated across European markets, though fee-based deterrents remain uncommon in GB network codes.

No volume figure for the current backlog is available from the headline alone, and Ofgem has not yet issued a determination on CMP470. The modification still faces the standard code change process, which typically runs several months. Asset managers with BESS pipelines in GB should track the Ofgem decision window closely. Approval would materially shift connection economics for projects not yet past the offer stage.