Energy firm 'in breach of its licence' says conservationist

Martin Shipton

A leading conservationist has accused an energy network company of breaking the terms of its operating licence.

In July 2024 Green GEN Cymru was given a licence by the energy regulator Ofgen authorising it to distribute electricity.

Green Gen is hoping to build a distribution network across rural Wales that would distribute electricity, including that generated by its sister company Bute Energy, which is hoping to build a parallel network of wind farms.

Both elements of the project have attracted considerable opposition from some landowners and lovers of the countryside who believe the schemes will spoil Wales’ majestic landscape and damage the nation’s tourism industry.

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Ofgem licence

Dr Jonathan Dean is a trustee of the charity CPRW (Council for the Protection of Rural Wales). He told Nation.Cymru: “As far as I can tell, Green GEN are in breach of their Ofgem licence.

“Licence condition 7A puts an obligation on all network companies to coordinate and collaborate, with the aim of ensuring the most efficient overall system.

“They demonstrate compliance by publishing a coordination register which must be updated at least annually by May 27. Green GEN have not published one on their website.

“If they have collaborated with other networks, why are they not telling us this? What are they hiding? What do they want to keep secret?

“If they have not collaborated, why not? How can the overall system be most effective if they work in isolation?

“It may seem a minor matter, simply posting a document on a website, but the principle behind it is essential if we are to have a well designed and operated electricity network, essential for reaching net zero.”

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Vyrnwy Frankton project

Dr Dean said he believed that Green GEN had not collaborated with other companies in connection with a proposed scheme called the Vyrnwy Frankton project that would see a 31-mile long network of pylons installed from a substation near Cefn Coch in Powys to the existing distribution network near Lower Frankton in Shropshire.

He said: “It seems pretty obvious they have not collaborated, but publishing the register would be their opportunity to show they have. I contacted them last July and they told me then that they would publish one in line with the licence condition.

“The requirement to collaborate with the other network operators has been there since the very first day they got their licence, so it’s nothing new. It should have been happening since day one, in fact before day one. Ofgem shouldn't have granted a licence if they couldn't demonstrate they were able to comply with the conditions.

“Failure of the networks to collaborate could lead to excess infrastructure being built and extra cost for consumers.”

Green GEN managing director Daryn Lucas said: “Green GEN Cymru received its IDNO (Independent Distribution Network Operator) Licence in July 2024. In compliance with the licence our 12-month deadline to publish our Coordination Register started from that date and we will be publishing it in due course.”

But Dr Dean responded: “According to the current document on the Ofgem website, the licence conditions [say] the date is May 27, not 12 months from the date of granting the licence.

“The conditions covered by 7A … should have been happening since July 2024. Under 7A.6 the register should be kept up to date, so if all of that has happened, why will they not publish it now? What are they trying to hide?

“National Grid keeps their register permanently available online, as do SPEN (SP Energy Networks).”

Coordination register

Dr Dean added later: “I have now received an email from Ofgem which confirms that ‘the licensee must prepare and is required to publish on its website a coordination register demonstrating the steps it has taken to comply with .. this condition by May 27 each year.’

Subsequently Green GEN published a coordination register, but Dr Dean said: “Of the things they list in the coordination register, only two of them are applicable to the licence as those are the only ones that involve other licences. The one most applicable to the ‘whole system’ is a single workshop they attended arranged by the Welsh Government

“None of the actions listed involve collaborating with [other energy distribution companies] to arrive at an optimum solution for all sources of generation or all customers. There appears to be no collaboration at all that would significantly benefit the whole system.

“Ofgem really should intervene.”