NGED (National Grid Electricity Distribution) Farm Solar Guide 2026

NGED - National Grid Electricity Distribution, formerly Western Power Distribution - operates the UK’s largest DNO network by customer count and geographic area. If your farm is in the East Midlands, West Midlands, South West England, South Wales or Mid Wales, NGED handles your grid connection. Here is how the 2026 G99 process works, where constraint hotspots sit and how to avoid the most common mistakes.

NGED licence areas

• East Midlands - Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire

• West Midlands - Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands conurbation, parts of Worcestershire

• South West - Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Bristol, parts of Dorset

• South Wales - Glamorgan, Gwent, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion

Farm solar density is heaviest in Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, South Wales dairy counties and the Lincolnshire/Leicestershire mixed farming belt.

NGED G99 timelines 2026

• Fast Track sub-50kW: 4-8 weeks from accepted quote to commissioning

• 50-200kW standard G99: 10-16 weeks

• 200-500kW: 14-22 weeks without reinforcement

• 500kW-1MW: 30-80 weeks including DNO reinforcement works

Constraint hotspots

• North Devon and North Cornwall - saturated 33kV groups around Barnstaple and Launceston. Many farm connections now require ANM offers.

• West Somerset - Hinkley Point and existing solar deployments have consumed export headroom.

• East Lincolnshire - dense existing generation portfolio (wind + solar + AD) means larger farms often face curtailment offers.

• South Wales valleys - legacy infrastructure combined with new renewables applications creates limited capacity.

• Rural Shropshire and Herefordshire - long rural 11kV feeders create voltage-rise constraints for individual high-capacity farms.

NGED Flexible Connection and ANM

NGED is a sector leader on Flexible / ANM connections. For farm systems above 150kW in constrained areas, a Flexible Connection typically offers a much faster and cheaper route than waiting for network reinforcement. You accept partial export curtailment (typically 2-10% of annual yield) in exchange for significantly shorter timelines.

Flexible connection paired with battery storage almost always wins economically - stored energy sidesteps ANM curtailment entirely. We model the exact ANM yield loss for every 150kW+ farm project on NGED.

Costs and common mistakes

• G99 application fees: £150-£500 for sub-50kW, £1,500-£5,000 for larger network studies.

• Budget-only Minimum Cost Scheme quotes are free - always request one before committing.

• Never accept an installer quote that does not include the G99 process.

• Check whether your farm needs a three-phase upgrade first - NGED can quote the service upgrade alongside the G99.

• Submit applications 6-9 months before your intended commissioning date for anything 200kW+.

See our companion guides on UKPN and Northern Powergrid.

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