Distributed generation quick cost calculator

We developed a quick cost calculator for generation connection applications and made it available on our website.

Our DG customers told us that it would be helpful to have an early indication of the cost of their generation connection, as it would help them to understand the financial viability
of their proposed project.

We already run monthly connections surgeries where customers can sit down with our engineers to have an upfront discussion about a planned connection project, including
the likely timescales and costs. However, following feedback and to help our customers
further during the important project scoping stage, we said we would develop an online calculator to enable generation customers to obtain an indicative cost and timescale for
connection schemes up to 8MW, covering different types of technologies, from solar PV
to battery storage (a ‘DG calculator’).  8MW is the threshold for EHV connections, after which a self-service budget estimate process is difficult to achieve due to the bespoke nature of such large connections.

We launched our online DG calculator in December 2017, fulfilling the commitment we made. Customers can now use our generation availability heat map, with its simple red, amber, green traffic light system to locate areas of our network with the capacity to accommodate their generation connection, measure the route from our substation to their development and use the DG calculator to quickly calculate an indicative cost.

This is another way in which we are extending the provision of information we make available to our customers to help them make informed, upfront decisions on where it is most feasible to  connect to our network. We have also made the new calculator fully compatible with smart phones and tablets so the information is always at our customers’ fingertips.

You can try our new DG calculator at www.northernpowergrid.com/
budget-generation-calculator