Eight Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission projects - Early Construction Funding and licence consultation round 2
Summary
Ofgem consultation on Early Construction Funding for eight SHET electricity transmission projects under the ASTI re-opener. Decision (issued later) approved SHET's full ECF request, maintaining the minded-to position.
Why it matters
Predecessor to the SHET ECF March 2026 consultation; this was the first tranche of SHET ECF approvals. Approving the 'full' request rather than a scaled-back version signalled Ofgem's readiness to fund the Scotland-England transmission build at the pace the developer wanted.
Areas affected
Related programmes
Memo
What this is about
Ofgem is consulting on Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission's (SHET) application for Early Construction Funding (ECF) to accelerate delivery of eight transmission projects under the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework. ECF is the mechanism that lets a transmission owner spend, and recover from consumers, money on construction activities before planning permission is granted. Without it, the project programme would have to wait for the consenting process to finish before procurement, civils, and long-lead equipment orders could begin. With it, those activities can run in parallel, compressing the delivery timeline at the cost of consumer money being committed to projects that may not ultimately receive consent.
The consultation is the second round on SHET's request, following an earlier "minded-to" consultation on the same eight projects. Ofgem set out a position to approve the full ECF amount SHET asked for; this round tests that position against stakeholder responses before issuing a final decision. The mechanism sits inside Special Condition 3.41 of SHET's electricity transmission licence (Appendix 1), and approving the ECF requires Ofgem to modify the licence to authorise the spend. The eight projects are part of the ASTI portfolio that delivers the transmission capacity needed to connect the offshore generation underwritten by the British Energy Security Strategy's 50 GW by 2030 ambition. The consenting and construction risk on these projects, particularly the Scotland-England transfer reinforcements, has become the binding constraint on the offshore build-out, which is why the funding framework is being run ahead of planning permission rather than after it.
The decision, issued in November 2025, maintained the minded-to position and approved SHET's full ECF request. That outcome matters less for what it did at the project level than for what it signalled: when a developer asks for the maximum, and the regulator's preliminary position is to grant the maximum, and the final decision sustains that position through a full consultation cycle, the framework is functioning as a fast-track funding channel rather than a contested allocation process. The March 2026 SHET ECF consultation is the direct successor to this one.
How to respond
The original consultation closed on 11 January 2025. The status is now "Closed (with decision)", and the decision documents were added on 19 November 2025:
- Eight SHET projects decision: Early Construction Funding and Modification to special conditions of the electricity transmission licence (PDF, 219.34KB) - Modification of the Special Conditions of the electricity transmission licence held by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc (PDF, 239.94KB)
The consultation page does not reproduce the submission email or postal address in the extracted text; respondents at the time would have used the contact route in the main consultation document ("Eight SHET projects ECF and proposed licence modification" PDF). The window for input has closed. Anyone wanting to influence the next tranche of SHET ECF decisions should engage with the March 2026 SHET ECF consultation, which is the live successor to this process.
Source text
Eight Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission projects - Early Construction Funding and licence consultation round 2 | Ofgem Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience. BETA This site is currently in BETA. Help us improve by giving us your feedback . Close alert: Eight Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission projects - Early Construction Funding and licence consultation round 2 Publication type: Consultation Publication date: 28 November 2024 Last updated: 19 November 2025 Closed date: 11 January 2025 Status: Closed (with decision) Topic: Electricity transmission, Energy network price controls Related consultations: Eight Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission projects - Early Construction Funding and proposed licence modification Show all updates Print this page Related links Eight Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission projects - Early Construction Funding and licence decision Share the page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn We are seeking views on the Early Construction Funding (ECF) application made by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHET) in relation to eight electricity transmission projects. Details of outcome After careful consideration of stakeholder responses, we have decided to maintain our minded to consultation position and therefore approve Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc (SHET) full Early Construction Funding request. The details of the response(s) are detailed within the decision document. This decision modifies Special Condition 3.41 (Appendix 1) of SHET’s electricity transmission licence in the manner set out in our decision under the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) re-opener. Read the full outcome Eight SHET projects decision: Early Construction Funding and Modification to special conditions of the electricity transmission licence [PDF, 219.34KB] Modification of the Special Conditions of the electricity transmission licence held by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc [PDF, 239.94KB] Original consultation Who should respond We would like views from people with an interest in new transmission infrastructure, meeting the net zero challenge, and competition in onshore transmission networks. We particularly welcome responses from consumer groups, stakeholders impacted by the project, stakeholders with an interest in the costs of electricity transmission infrastructure, and transmission owners. We would also welcome responses from other stakeholders and the public. Background The British Energy Security Strategy set out the Government's ambition to connect up to 50GW of offshore generation to the electricity network by 2030. In December 2022 we introduced a new Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework that will assess, fund and incentivise the accelerated delivery of large strategic transmission projects required to deliver on the Government's ambition. This consultation seeks input from stakeholders in relation to providing SHET with ECF to fund early construction activities required to accelerate delivery of eight ASTI projects ahead of receiving planning permission. Why your views matter We want to hear your views on SHET’s ECF application. We encourage respondents to consider the specific questions outlined within this consultation. Your responses to this consultation will inform our decision. Main document Eight SHET projects ECF and proposed licence modification [PDF, 297.12KB] Modification of the SpC 3.41 of the electricity transmission licence held by SHET [PDF, 178.47KB] Print this page Related links Eight Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission projects - Early Construction Funding and licence decision Share the page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn All updates 19 November 2025 Decision document and licence modification added Close