FORT energy
Free G99 & G98 grid connection applications
Grid first.Solar second.
We get your DNO connection approved before you commit to a system — so you choose your kit, and your installer, already knowing what your network will allow.
Free · about 10 minutes · yours to take to any installer
Grid approval comes last, when it's expensive to be wrong
You get the answer before you've spent anything
Why the order matters
Your street decides what your roof can do.
Every solar or battery system needs permission from the company that owns the electricity cables in your road — your Distribution Network Operator, or DNO. Not your supplier. Most people have never heard of them until something goes wrong.
Some streets are full
Local networks have limits. One property might connect 20 kW without a murmur; a house three doors down on a different feeder gets conditions attached. There's no way to know from the outside.
You may be capped
Your DNO can limit how much power you're allowed to export to the grid. If that cap lands after you've bought a system sized around selling power, the sums change.
The answer takes as long as it takes
That part isn't in our hands — or your installer's. What you control is when you ask. Ask early and the wait happens while you're still deciding, not after you've paid a deposit.
Which one applies to you
G98 or G99 — what's the difference?
Two engineering recommendations from the Energy Networks Association. Which one your system falls under decides whether you can install first or have to wait for approval. We work it out for you, but here's the short version.
Small systems — tell them afterwards
For fully type tested equipment up to 16 amps per phase. You can install first and notify your DNO within 28 days. Quick, but the ceiling is low — roughly one small array with no battery.
- Single phase limit
- ≈3.68 kW
- Three phase limit
- ≈11.04 kW
- Approval needed first
- No
Everything else — ask them first
Anything above the G98 threshold, and anything with a battery or backup power. Approval is required before installation. Most solar and battery systems fitted today land here.
- Applies above
- 16 A per phase
- Batteries included
- Yes
- Approval needed first
- Yes
How it works
Ten minutes from you. The rest is ours.
You won't need to know anything technical, and nobody visits your home.
Tell us about the property
Rough size, roughly what you spend on electricity, and how many panels you think might fit. Guesses are fine — we work the rest out and suggest systems that suit.
Two photos and your address
A photo of your electricity meter and the sealed box beside it, taken on your phone from where you're stood. Then find your property on a map and draw round it.
We apply and chase
We prepare the single line diagram, submit to your DNO, answer their questions, and tell you the moment there's an answer. You do nothing further.
What you end up with
A written answer, in your name.
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Your connection decisionWhat your property is permitted to install and export, in writing from your DNO, with a reference number.
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The drawings that went with itSingle line diagram and the technical submission — documents an installer would otherwise have to produce for you.
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A record of your propertyYour MPAN, main fuse rating, phases and earthing arrangement — worth having whoever ends up doing the work.
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No tie to usTake it to whichever installer you choose. It's your application, in your name, at your property.
Since you're wondering
What's in it for us
We're a solar, battery and heat pump installer in Northumberland. We do grid applications every week, so doing yours costs us very little — and if you like how we handle it, you might ask us to quote for the work.
You don't have to. There's no obligation, no fee, and nobody will turn up at your door. If you want a quote afterwards, there's a button for it at the end. If you don't press it, we'll send your approval and leave you alone.
That's the whole arrangement.
Questions
The ones we get asked most.
What actually is a DNO?
The Distribution Network Operator owns the poles, cables and substations in your area. It isn't your energy supplier — you don't choose your DNO, it's decided by where you live. In the north east that's Northern Powergrid; elsewhere it'll be one of thirteen others. They're the ones who decide whether your system can connect.
What's the difference between G98 and G99?
G98 covers small, fully type tested systems up to 16 amps per phase — around 3.68 kW on a single phase supply. You can install first and notify your DNO afterwards.
G99 covers anything larger, and anything with a battery or backup power. Approval is needed before installation. Most systems fitted today are G99.
Is it really free?
Yes. We don't charge for preparing or submitting the application, and there's nothing to pay at the end.
DNOs don't usually charge for domestic applications. Larger commercial schemes sometimes attract a study fee from the network operator — if that applies to you we'll tell you what it is before anything is submitted, and you decide whether to go ahead.
How long does a G99 application take?
Your part takes about ten minutes. After that it's down to your DNO, and their timescales vary by region and by how busy they are. We'll tell you what's typical for your area once we know who you're with, and we chase them so you don't have to.
We'd rather be straight with you than promise a date we don't control.
What if my connection is refused or export limited?
A flat refusal is rare. Conditions are common — usually a limit on how much you can export, or an offer of a flexible connection where your export is reduced at busy times.
That's exactly the sort of thing worth knowing before you buy, rather than after. We'll explain what the conditions mean for a system on your property, and what still makes sense within them.
Do I have to use Fort Energy for the installation?
No. The approval is in your name, for your property, and you can hand it to any installer. We'd like the chance to quote, but that's a separate conversation you can decline.
Why do you need photos of my meter?
Two reasons. Your meter shows the serial number and confirms your MPAN is right — a wrong digit is the single most common cause of an application being sent back. And the sealed box beside it shows your main fuse rating, which sets the ceiling on what can be installed.
Photographs only. Never open, unscrew or unseal anything — it's live, it belongs to your DNO, and everything we need is visible from where you're standing.
What happens to my information?
We use it to prepare and submit your application, and we share it with your DNO because that's who has to approve it. We don't sell it and we don't pass it to other installers. You can ask us to delete it at any time.
Grid first.Solar second.
Find out what your property is allowed to do, before you commit to anything.
Start my grid checkFree · about 10 minutes · no obligation