{
  "schemaVersion": "1.0",
  "kind": "nilu.article",
  "id": "o-que-e-fila-conexao-rede",
  "slug": "what-is-a-grid-interconnection-queue",
  "locale": "en",
  "sourceLocale": "pt-br",
  "localizationStatus": "translated",
  "title": "What is a grid interconnection queue?",
  "summary": "A generation queue is not a load queue. MW in queue is not an operation date. Reinforcement is a study outcome, not a universal MW threshold.",
  "author": "NiLu",
  "publishedAt": "2026-08-28T00:00:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-08-28T00:00:00.000Z",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://blog.nilu.pro/en/blog/what-is-a-grid-interconnection-queue/",
  "representations": {
    "html": "https://blog.nilu.pro/en/blog/what-is-a-grid-interconnection-queue/",
    "markdown": "https://blog.nilu.pro/en/blog/what-is-a-grid-interconnection-queue.md",
    "json": "https://blog.nilu.pro/en/blog/what-is-a-grid-interconnection-queue.json"
  },
  "bodyMarkdown": "# What is a grid interconnection queue?\n\nA generation queue is not a load queue. MW in queue is not an operation date. Reinforcement is a study outcome, not a universal MW threshold.\n\nAuthor: NiLu\nLocale: en\nPublished: 2026-08-28\nUpdated: 2026-08-28\nCanonical: https://blog.nilu.pro/en/blog/what-is-a-grid-interconnection-queue/\nMarkdown: https://blog.nilu.pro/en/blog/what-is-a-grid-interconnection-queue.md\nJSON: https://blog.nilu.pro/en/blog/what-is-a-grid-interconnection-queue.json\n\n## In brief\n\n- An interconnection queue is the process by which a project requests grid access and waits for studies before it can operate.\n- In the US, Order 2023 governs generation; the large-loads track (DOE §403 / RM26-4) is separate.\n- Most US generation projects that enter the queue are withdrawn before they generate.\n- The dossier sources have no equivalent public load-queue dataset in the US, nor a pan-European queue.\n\n## Contents\n\n- [What the queue measures — and what it does not](#what-the-queue-measures)\n- [Two processes, two scoreboards](#two-processes)\n- [MW in queue is not an operation date](#mw-is-not-cod)\n- [Where the queue is public](#where-it-is-public)\n- [Uncertainties](#uncertainties)\n\n<a id=\"what-the-queue-measures\"></a>\n\n## What the queue measures — and what it does not\n\nAn interconnection queue is the process by which a project requests grid access and awaits studies before it can operate. It is not a stock of megawatts that will switch on on a date. It is also not a single worldwide scoreboard: generation and load follow different rulebooks, and each jurisdiction names the study product differently. [[1]](#ref-1)\n\n<a id=\"two-processes\"></a>\n\n## Two processes, two scoreboards\n\nIn the United States, FERC Order No. 2023 reforms generator interconnection procedures. It is not a load interconnection rule. [[1]](#ref-1) [[2]](#ref-2) The large-loads track is separate: docket RM26-4 originated from a DOE letter (October 23, 2025) asking for a final decision by April 30, 2026. [[3]](#ref-3) [[4]](#ref-4)\n\nIn Brazil, distribution load follows ANEEL’s REN 1.000/2021 (a connection budget with 15-, 30-, or 45-day deadlines). On the Rede Básica (≥230 kV), the product is the ONS Access Opinion, valid for 90 days until the CUST. [[9]](#ref-9) [[11]](#ref-11)\n\nIn the European Union, the Demand Connection Code sets technical requirements and a ladder of operational notifications — not a public MW queue. [[12]](#ref-12) [[13]](#ref-13)\n\n<a id=\"mw-is-not-cod\"></a>\n\n## MW in queue is not an operation date\n\nFrom LBNL’s Queued Up 2024 (data through the end of 2023): of requests submitted in 2000–2018, about 20% of projects — and about 14% of capacity — had reached commercial operation by the end of 2023; more than 70% were withdrawn. The median request-to-operation time for projects completed in 2023 was close to 5 years. [[6]](#ref-6)\n\nAt PJM, the generation queue totaled 221,297.3 MW on an energy basis at the end of 2024; historically, about 17.4% of that type of MW reaches in-service status. [[8]](#ref-8)\n\nGrid reinforcement is also not a universal MW threshold: it is the output of a specific study inside a specific jurisdictional process. [[1]](#ref-1)\n\n<a id=\"where-it-is-public\"></a>\n\n## Where the queue is public\n\nWidely cited US portals (PJM, MISO, ERCOT, CAISO) measure generation and storage — not large-load requests. [[7]](#ref-7) Among the dossier’s sources there is no equivalent public load-queue dataset in the US, and no pan-European queue comparable to Queued Up. [[14]](#ref-14)\n\n<a id=\"uncertainties\"></a>\n\n## Uncertainties\n\nLoad-queue transparency may emerge from RM26-4 or tariff filings — it does not exist today. Newer Queued Up editions may change magnitudes; numbers from different editions should not be added without labeling the reference year.\n\n<a id=\"read-the-dossier\"></a>\n\n## Read the Dossier\n\nThe full map — US, Brazil, Europe, reinforcement, and hybrids — is in [Capacity, interconnection queues, and reinforcement](/en/blog/grid-capacity-queues-reinforcement/).\n\n## References\n\n1. <a id=\"ref-1\"></a>[FERC — Explainer on the Interconnection Final Rule (Order No. 2023)](https://www.ferc.gov/explainer-interconnection-final-rule). Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n2. <a id=\"ref-2\"></a>[Federal Register — Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/09/06/2023-16628/improvements-to-generator-interconnection-procedures-and-agreements). Federal Register. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n3. <a id=\"ref-3\"></a>[FERC — RM26-4 (large loads docket hub)](https://www.ferc.gov/rm26-4). Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n4. <a id=\"ref-4\"></a>[U.S. DOE — Ensuring the Timely and Orderly Interconnection of Large Loads (§403 ANOPR letter)](https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/403%20Large%20Loads%20Letter.pdf). U.S. Department of Energy. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n6. <a id=\"ref-6\"></a>[LBNL — Queued Up: 2024 Edition (data through the end of 2023)](https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/queued_up_2024_edition_r2.pdf). Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n7. <a id=\"ref-7\"></a>[PJM — Cycle Service Request Status](https://www.pjm.com/planning/m/cycle-service-request-status). PJM Interconnection. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n8. <a id=\"ref-8\"></a>[Monitoring Analytics — 2024 State of the Market Report for PJM, Section 12](https://www.monitoringanalytics.com/reports/PJM_State_of_the_Market/2024/2024-som-pjm-sec12.pdf). Monitoring Analytics. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n9. <a id=\"ref-9\"></a>[ANEEL — Resolução Normativa nº 1.000/2021](https://www2.aneel.gov.br/cedoc/ren20211000.html). Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n11. <a id=\"ref-11\"></a>[ONS — Submódulo 3.4 dos Procedimentos de Rede (Solicitação / Parecer de Acesso)](https://www.ons.org.br/ProcedimentosDeRede/M%C3%B3dulo%203/Subm%C3%B3dulo%203.4/Subm%C3%B3dulo%203.4_%20Rev_0.3.pdf). Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n12. <a id=\"ref-12\"></a>[Regulamento (UE) 2016/1388 — Demand Connection Code](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016R1388). European Commission / EUR-Lex. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n13. <a id=\"ref-13\"></a>[ENTSO-E — Demand Connection Code hub](https://www.entsoe.eu/network_codes/dcc/). ENTSO-E. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n14. <a id=\"ref-14\"></a>[ENTSO-E — ERAA hub](https://www.entsoe.eu/eraa/). ENTSO-E. Accessed August 09, 2026.\n"
}