The UK Government are at risk of missing their target to have all UK homes powered by offshore wind farms by 2030.
According to one of the world's largest renewable energy developers, RWE, the plans are at risk because outdated legislation is slowing investments into the grid.
RWE said that many of their UK projects have been delayed due to failures to secure a grid connection for their projects in time.
Tom Glover, RWE's UK boss, commented: ''The one thing that is delaying our projects is the onshore connections. It's getting quite serious. We are getting to the point of concern over whether that 40GW target can be met purely because of the onshore grid. It is only the onshore grid which could stop this happening.''
Investment into the energy grid comes from money consumers pay through their energy bills, consequently, Ofgem the industry regulator, are careful when considering grid investments to avoid passing on unnecessary costs to households.
However, RWE isn't alone of their criticisms of the need for greater investment in the grid, with many energy network companies arguing that Ofgem needs to allow for more investment otherwise the UK's net-zero climate targets will be left at risk.
Energy companies have said Ofgem's focus on energy bills is ignoring the wider economic benefits of green energy upgrades. Allowing these update would lead to lower-cost electricity and investments which could power a green economic recovery from the coronavirus.
An Ofgem spokesman commented that their new regulatory framework: ''aims to secure billions of pounds of new investment in the grid to enable the UK to hit net zero and help drive the green recovery''.
They added: ''We are working with the Government and the industry to develop proposals for a co-ordinated programme of anticipatory investments in the onshore and offshore networks to enable 40GW of offshore wind farms in the North Sea. All this must be delivered at the lowest cost to consumers, so we are challenging the industry to be much more efficient in how it runs and finances itself.''
