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By NiLu Updated

What is a grid interconnection queue?

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.

In brief

  • An interconnection queue is the process by which a project requests grid access and waits for studies before it can operate.
  • In the US, Order 2023 governs generation; the large-loads track (DOE §403 / RM26-4) is separate.
  • Most US generation projects that enter the queue are withdrawn before they generate.
  • The dossier sources have no equivalent public load-queue dataset in the US, nor a pan-European queue.

What the queue measures — and what it does not

An 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]

Two processes, two scoreboards

In the United States, FERC Order No. 2023 reforms generator interconnection procedures. It is not a load interconnection rule. [1] [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] [4]

In 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] [11]

In the European Union, the Demand Connection Code sets technical requirements and a ladder of operational notifications — not a public MW queue. [12] [13]

MW in queue is not an operation date

From 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20% of projects — and about 14% of capacity — had reached commercial operation by the end of 2023; more than 70% were withdrawn.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]

At 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]

Grid reinforcement is also not a universal MW threshold: it is the output of a specific study inside a specific jurisdictional process. [1]

Where the queue is public

Widely cited US portals (PJM, MISO, ERCOT, CAISO) measure generation and storage — not large-load requests. [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]

Uncertainties

Load-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.

Read the Dossier

The full map — US, Brazil, Europe, reinforcement, and hybrids — is in Capacity, interconnection queues, and reinforcement.

References

  1. FERC — Explainer on the Interconnection Final Rule (Order No. 2023). Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  2. Federal Register — Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements. Federal Register. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  3. FERC — RM26-4 (large loads docket hub). Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  4. U.S. DOE — Ensuring the Timely and Orderly Interconnection of Large Loads (§403 ANOPR letter). U.S. Department of Energy. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  5. LBNL — Queued Up: 2024 Edition (data through the end of 2023). Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  6. PJM — Cycle Service Request Status. PJM Interconnection. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  7. Monitoring Analytics — 2024 State of the Market Report for PJM, Section 12. Monitoring Analytics. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  8. ANEEL — Resolução Normativa nº 1.000/2021. Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  9. ONS — Submódulo 3.4 dos Procedimentos de Rede (Solicitação / Parecer de Acesso). Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  10. Regulamento (UE) 2016/1388 — Demand Connection Code. European Commission / EUR-Lex. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  11. ENTSO-E — Demand Connection Code hub. ENTSO-E. Accessed August 09, 2026.
  12. ENTSO-E — ERAA hub. ENTSO-E. Accessed August 09, 2026.