Orrön Energy was granted Gate 2 approvals for its three solar projects, which is a more concrete offer than NESO’s Gate 1 approval.
January 7, 2026
Sweden-headquartered renewables firm Orrön Energy has secured grid connections for three solar PV projects with around 1.8GW of generation capacity. 
Alongside the three solar projects, the company also secured grid connections for three data centre projects with 1.1GW of cumulative capacity. Orrön Energy did not confirm the location or individual size of any of the projects, but did say they are greenfield sites.
The company said it expects more binding details on grid connections in the third quarter of 2026. Having received grid approval and secured land, the sites are now poised at the “ready-to-permit” stage. Orrön Energy did not provide a development timeline. 
Orrön Energy also secured municipal approval in Germany for three solar projects with around 250MW of nameplate capacity and has “advanced a significant pipeline of large-scale battery projects” in the country. 
The UK grid connections were granted under the UK grid reform process, which issued its preliminary results in December. The reforms issued by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) aim to prioritise “ready-to-go” projects in the interconnection queue, in place of the old first-come, first-served system. 
NESO said it unlocked 381.5GW of ready-to-build energy capacity with the changes, which are intended to link with the government’s Clean Power 2030 policy, to power the UK with almost 100% renewable energy by the end of this decade. 
Related:The biggest UK solar news from 2025
Orrön Energy was granted Gate 2 approvals for its three solar projects, which is a more concrete offer than NESO’s Gate 1 approval. Gate 2 means the projects have met the readiness and strategic requirements set out by the grid reforms, and they will receive a concrete grid connection date either before 2030 (phase 1) or before 2035 (phase 2). 
“I am very pleased with the strong progress and results coming out of our greenfield platforms in the UK and Germany. Securing the Gate 2 grid connections in the UK enables us to move ahead with some of the discussions that were temporarily paused due to the now-concluded grid reform process,” said Daniel Fitzgerald, CEO of Orrön Energy. 
The grid reforms were met with cautious approval by the UK solar industry – some developers said the approvals process was rushed, and Solar Power Portal heard there would inevitably be “winners and losers” from the process, as the scale of the interconnection queue prior to the reforms exceeded the required capacity to meet Clean Power 2030 demand.
Battery energy storage system (BESS) projects may feel the sharp end of the changes, with 153GW worth of proposals falling foul of the reforms’ prioritisation process. The non-prioritised projects were either given Gate 1 approvals, which are subordinate to Gate 2 and subject to future assessments, or removed from the queue completely. 
Related:Aura Power secures financing for 49.9MW East Devon solar plant
As the grid reform process progressed last year, the UK industry underwent significant shifts, with a “boom” in mergers and acquisitions. 
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Will Norman
Senior Reporter, Informa
Will is a senior reporter who primarily covers the policy and geopolitics behind the energy transition, with a particular focus on manufacturing. 
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