The rush to have solar projects connected to the grid prior to ROC deadlines has the potential to cause future problems with distribution networks, Dragon Infrastructure Solutions chief executive Simon Phipps has said.
Speaking to Solar Power Portal, Phipps said that “significant risks” were being taken by contractors in order to have projects finished to deadline and that too much extra-high voltage capacity was being installed in a short space of time.
“The pressure we’re all under to deliver these infrastructures within a ridiculously short space of time at 33,000V is just lunacy.
“It’s really not the way to do business, but those are the ground rules that have been laid out by the government,” Phipps said.
Last year SPP reported details of a major rush to have projects completed after extended periods of inclement weather hampered construction efforts and caused significant delays.
But while Phipps said this year’s weather had been “almost perfect”, delays in obtaining approval and the requisite licences from various authorities have caused similar delays, resulting in another pre-deadline construction rush.
The ROC 1.4 deadline is set to expire in less than a week and earlier this month business rescue specialist McTear Williams & Wood warned that one in 10 large-scale solar projects could be at risk of missing out on funding, a figure Phipps agreed “sounded about right”.
“There’s so much money involved in these contracts – there’s hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds… [and] developers have gotten themselves into a position where they've spent too much money to back out, as they can't afford to lose that money so they've got to go for it,” Phipps said.