Grid connection

UK Power Networks, the DNO covering Sandwich and East Kent, has launched an Opportunity Finder tool giving schools, hospitals and community groups estimated install costs and network connection information before they apply for solar funding

Built by UK Power Networks' Distribution System Operator arm and currently piloted with three NHS trusts, two community energy groups and the Greater South East Net Zero Hub, the tool is aimed at non-domestic applicants but is a useful signal of how seriously the local DNO now takes solar connection planning.

22 August 2026 · Source: Energy Live News

UK Power Networks is the distribution network operator for the South East, including Sandwich and the rest of East Kent, so any tool it builds around solar connections is directly relevant to this site's readers even though this particular launch is aimed at schools, hospitals and community groups rather than individual homeowners. The Opportunity Finder gives those organisations estimated installation costs, potential carbon savings and, crucially, electricity network connection information for a given site, before they commit to a funding application.

That last piece, network connection information up front, is the part worth watching. This site has covered DNO grid connection delays and G98/G99 notification requirements before as one of the more opaque parts of getting a rooftop system connected, particularly for anything larger than a standard domestic install. A DNO publishing a self-service tool that surfaces connection capacity and cost estimates before an applicant even approaches an installer suggests UK Power Networks is trying to get ahead of the queue-management problems that have slowed larger connections elsewhere in the country.

Lynne McDonald, UK Power Networks DSO's head of local net zero, framed it as giving customers "the clarity and confidence they need to move from ambition to action", and the funding context matters here too: the tool's launch lines up with Great British Energy having £180 million available for non-domestic solar projects, so a school or community group can now use it to build a stronger case before applying for that money rather than guessing at connection feasibility.

Nothing here changes the process for a standard domestic rooftop or plug-in install, which still goes through the ordinary DNO notification route (G98 for smaller systems, G99 above that threshold) rather than this tool. But it's a reasonable early sign that UK Power Networks is investing in better self-service information for solar applicants generally, and if that approach extends to domestic connection queries over time, it would be a genuine improvement on the current process of ringing the DNO or waiting on an installer to chase a connection offer.

Read the original: Energy Live News. Commentary is Sandwich Solar's own editorial view; the original reporting is credited to its publisher.

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