Legal expert warns grid connection delay risks holding back Scotland’s net zero future

Policymakers must speed up the grid connection process if Scotland is to meet its net zero targets by 2045, a leading Scottish lawyer has warned.

Yasmin Myles, Inverness-based Legal Director and renewable energy expert at Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP (WJM), says with the NESO (National Energy System Operator)’s Gate 2 process is holding the Just Transition back.

She shares her thoughts ahead of The Scotsman Highland & Islands Green Energy Conference 2026 in Inverness (11 June) where the conversation is expected to focus on the challenges surrounding grid connection reform, the Gate 2 process and the ongoing uncertainty facing developers and landowners across Scotland.

From my perspective, the grid connection issue has become one of the most significant barriers to renewable energy development in the country. Talking with clients, contacts and colleagues across the sector, everyone is reporting the same issue – the delays and associated costs of connecting to the grid.

While the Highlands and North of Scotland are uniquely positioned to help deliver Scotland's net zero ambitions, many projects are currently unable to move forward due to delays and uncertainty around access to the grid.

We have the land, the natural resources and the expertise needed to support renewable energy development at scale. We also have developers, landowners and advisers who are committed to helping deliver the infrastructure needed to support a cleaner future.

However, despite widespread support for renewable energy projects, many developers and landowners find themselves in limbo.

The introduction of the Gate 2 process was intended to remove so-called 'zombie projects' from the grid connection queue and prioritise schemes that were ready to progress. While the objective was initially designed to create certainty, in practice it has created more uncertainty, at least at present.

The criteria were demanding, the deadlines were tight and, as a result, a number of legitimate projects were excluded from the process despite being well advanced, in some cases ’shovel ready’.

This has created frustration throughout the sector, particularly among those who had already invested considerable time and resources into bringing projects forward.

Even for those developers who successfully navigated the Gate 2 process, uncertainty remains. Many are still waiting for connection offers from NESO, despite progressing through the required stages. At the same time, a new application round is being introduced while a backlog from the previous process still exists. This is creating difficultly in making commercial decisions and there is very much an unwillingness across the industry to invest further into projects pending some clear route to grid connection.

By the time a project reaches the stage of applying for a grid connection, significant investment has already been made. Land agreements are often in place, option payments may be being made to landowners, legal work will have been undertaken, site investigations completed and planning applications progressed.

Developers are therefore being forced to make difficult choices. Do they continue investing in projects without certainty over when, or if, a grid connection will be secured? Or do they pause development and risk losing momentum and investment opportunities?

Neither option is particularly attractive, and with the cost of grid increasing all the time, the goalposts ever-changing in terms of costing out projects, it makes it ever harder for developers to cost projects and justify unforeseen increases to investors.

The impact is not limited to developers. Landowners are also affected. Many renewable energy projects offer valuable long-term income streams that can help support rural businesses, estates and farms, but the significant returns only commence when a project is energised. At a time when landowners are already navigating a range of financial pressures, additional uncertainty around project timelines makes future planning increasingly difficult.

What makes the situation particularly frustrating is that this is not simply a question of grid capacity. Instead, the industry is grappling with a process that has created delays and uncertainty at a time when Scotland needs renewable energy projects to be progressing as quickly as possible.

There is a clear contradiction at the heart of the current situation. As a country, we are committed to achieving net zero. The renewable energy industry is investing heavily in helping deliver that ambition. Developers are bringing forward projects. Landowners are making land available. Professional advisers are supporting projects through increasingly complex regulatory and planning processes.

Yet many of these projects are being held back by issues beyond their control. It’s not just new projects that are affected by grid connection delay and costs. Repowering outdated projects is also critical to meeting Scotland’s net zero targets, but these repowering projects are coming up against the same issues.

The reality is that we can discuss climate change, energy security and net zero ambitions as much as we like, but without the infrastructure needed to connect renewable energy projects to the grid, those ambitions become far more difficult to achieve.

A renewable energy project only delivers environmental, social and economic benefits once it is operational. No matter how well designed a project may be, or how much investment has gone into bringing it forward, it cannot generate clean energy if it cannot connect to the grid.

The consequences extend beyond environmental targets. Delays to renewable energy developments also mean lost opportunities for investment, employment and economic growth, particularly in regions such as the Highlands and North of Scotland, where the sector has the potential to support significant long-term prosperity.

That is why the industry increasingly needs intervention from policymakers and decision-makers to help expedite and reform the current process. There is widespread support for achieving net zero and strong appetite across the sector to deliver the projects needed to make it happen. What is needed now is a framework that enables that progress rather than slowing it down.

The renewable energy sector is ready to play its part. Landowners are ready to play theirs. Communities stand to benefit from investment and growth. However, until the grid connection process becomes more certain and more efficient, many projects will remain on hold.

The future of net zero cannot remain in limbo indefinitely. If Scotland is serious about meeting its climate ambitions, we must ensure the infrastructure and regulatory systems needed to support renewable energy development are fit for purpose. Without them, the transition risks being delayed at precisely the moment when momentum is most needed.

Our team at WJM, alongside our Davidson Chalmers Stewart and Irwin Mitchell colleagues, have the consenting and project experience to help guide clients through these frustrating issues. Across our Projects Team, we have demonstrable experience of supporting changes to projects for budgetary purposes and flushing out grid route and installation issues before the route is adopted by a provider or operator.

Yasmin Myles is an expert in helping developers with their renewable energy projects. For more information, advice and support contact yvm@wjm.co.uk.

Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP is a full-service Scottish law firm, incorporating Davidson Chalmers Stewart under the Irwin Mitchell brand.