Commissioning a network connection and capacity study

Applicants should register for a generation connection on the Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) website. Once you receive confirmation of registration, please download a generator questionnaire, complete and return to Distribution Generation, NIE Dargan Depot, 57 Dargan Road, BT3 9JU.

Application checklist

Please ensure that your application includes:

a completed generator questionnaire
a cheque for your connection application fee made payable to Northern Ireland Electricity Ltd.
a copy of approved planning permission
a copy of your turbine specification

NIE will then consider the proposal and connection implications. If the proposal is approved, NIE will issue you with the formal terms and conditions for connecting the generator. Where applicable NIE will include a quotation for indicative costs in the proposal.

Once you formally accept the terms and conditions for connection and pay the connection charge applicable, NIE will initiate a set of legalities which may include:

wayleave approval
cable easements
substation lease
planning permission

Only when these have been obtained and full payment has been received can the construction work be scheduled. NIE will be unable to carry out any further work if the terms and conditions for connection have not been received.

Generator connection agreement

On receipt of the terms and conditions for connection, NIE will provide you with a generator connection agreement and a blank copy of the embedded generation test record (schedule 1A) [70kB word]. You should return a signed and witnessed agreement should be return to us.

Please advise us of the generator’s trading arrangements which we need to finalise and agree. You wil then ben required to carry out a series of tests and provides NIE with signed certification. A period of 10 working days notice is required if the testing shows that the generator should be paralleled with the NIE Network.

NIE countersigns the generator agreement and returns it to you. Once this agreement is in place the generator can be paralleled with NIE’s network.