Inadequate oversight of land rights threatens grid connection progress

Delays to grid connections are a significant drag on the UK’s infrastructure ambitions, impacting new clean energy schemes and high energy users such as battery gigafactories and data centres. However, there are significant threats to progress in this sphere, not least the question of land rights.

Tony Pratt is head of technical services at TerraQuest

Several factors, including a substantial uptick in the take-up of electric vehicles over the coming years are expected to put significant pressures on grid connections, both for at-home charging and out-of-home charging stations. At the same time, an increasing number of facilities with substantial power demands, such as data centres and battery storage facilities, are set to come online in the coming years – a trend that seems likely to accelerate with the new government’s attempts to boost the numbers of these projects. As a result, many new connections are needed across the country, along with many hundreds of miles of power lines and associated infrastructure.

The new assets in the pipeline quite literally need to be plugged in. But this is no simple task. The threats to progress on efforts to reduce waiting times for grid connections are complex and multifaceted. Obvious culprits include limitations on generation, other technical challenges and shortages of skills and equipment.

However, a factor that tends to receive substantially less attention in discussion around speeding up grid connections – and, indeed, other major infrastructure projects – is that of land rights.

Land rights

Land rights in the UK are complex and, of course, change regularly as ownership of sites changes hands. In the context of multi-year projects, with considerable periods of time elapsing between the inception of a project and the completion of work, keeping track of the ownership, rights and restrictions that apply to innumerable plots becomes a fiendish task, with potentially many thousands of data points to keep track of.

Grid infrastructure must pass over and under numerous plots of land, owned by a similarly large number of businesses and individuals. The operators behind this infrastructure must also account for complex and sometimes ambiguous restrictions on land use. This puts significant pressure on Designated Network Operators (DNOs) to ensure that, at any given moment during the life of a project, they possess detailed and up-to-date information about land ownerships and rights.

Both long-distance high voltage power lines and short-distance infrastructure for new grid connections require the acquisition of, and new rights to be established, over land and, frequently, the use of Compulsory Acquisition powers. Obtaining these rights means having a comprehensive and up-to-date record of land ownership and any associated restrictions.

While HM Land Registry in principle holds a complete record of land ownership in England and Wales, the information pertaining to rights and restrictions can be difficult to interpret and offers little information on unregistered, ambiguous or disputed land rights.

Land referencing

As a result, HM Land Registry data offers only a snapshot of land ownership and rights. This is wholly inadequate for major infrastructure projects that last sometimes many years. This is where land referencing comes in, offering something more akin to a real-time picture of land ownership and rights.

Land referencing relates to the research, analysis and presentation of all interests in land impacted by schemes that will be completed with the use of compulsory purchase orders. It involves a wide range of skills, including surveying, cartography, planning and data management.

Teams in this area will typically use the HM Land Registry data as the starting point and will undertake an in-depth analysis of the data to ensure that any discrepancies are identified and investigated. This could be due to landowners not submitting their application or the Land Registry backlog.

To mitigate this risk, the Land Referencing team will undertake enquiries on site by enquiring with landowner and their tenants to ensure that any expected changes are recorded and client informed.

Land referencing is an active and ongoing process, involving detailed manual research by people with specialist knowledge in the intricacies of land rights into the ownership and restrictions on the use of all land involved in a project.

The risks of uncertainty

Without comprehensive and up-to-date intelligence about the status of land potentially affected by a project, there is a real risk of unnecessary delays in acquiring or gaining rights over land. When multiplied by potentially many hundreds of plots of land, the prospect of encountering costly issues rises substantially. This is a significant area of risk, given the urgent need to increase the speed of delivery of new grid connections.

A comprehensive and detailed approach to land referencing, undertaken by specialist researchers is vital in ensuring upgraded grid infrastructure and connections are delivered as soon as possible.

Final thoughts

Upgrading the grid, and particularly reducing the time it takes to connect major projects, must be a priority for improving the country’s infrastructure. In doing so, mitigating risks to project costs and delivery is crucial. Because land rights are not necessarily an obvious area of risk at the planning stages of grid infrastructure, there can be a tendency to forego a comprehensive land referencing exercise. Yet, failing to undertake detailed land referencing exposes grid connection projects to a significant risk of delays and spiralling costs.

To meet the country’s need to speed up grid connections and to bring projects online more quickly, land referencing should be the default for every project.