Opna, the verification, matching, and financing platform for critical high-voltage power equipment, has submitted its response to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's consultation on accelerating electricity network connections for strategic demand projects.

Building on its earlier response to Ofgem's Call for Input on Demand Connections Reform, Opna's submission focused on the government's proposals for strategic prioritisation of demand connections — and the supply chain dimension it believes is missing from the current framework.

Key themes in Opna's submission included:

— The argument that securing a strategically prioritised connection date does not guarantee energisation on that date — and that supply chain readiness should be embedded as a criterion within the government's designation and scoring frameworks.

— A call for clean energy co-location and PPA commitments to be recognised as a weighted factor in how projects are assessed for strategic importance, reinforcing the government's Clean Power 2030 objectives.

— A warning that the current proposals risk entrenching structural advantages held by hyperscale operators, and that the forthcoming data centre strategy must explicitly create space for distributed, inference-era infrastructure built by mid-market developers.

— A recommendation that government establish a register of verified supply chain intermediaries and commission a formal supply chain capacity study to inform the design of its data centre strategy.

Opna also expressed support for flexible connection agreements, while cautioning that phased energisation only works if developers have the procurement and financing infrastructure to deliver equipment in phases — a capability that most mid-market operators currently lack.