Method

What N84 holds

The editions N84 holds today for each register shown on N84 Grid, read from the archive when this page loaded (22 Oct 2026). File dates are the dates the publisher printed. This is the record; what we intend to collect is under Planned collection.

N84 shows changes only between editions it holds. An archived copy from the Internet Archive is an earlier edition someone else saved; it fills history but never triggers an alert.

Collected, not shown yet

• DESNZ Renewable Energy Planning Database: 1 file, dated 3 Aug 2026 (1 automatic collection); stored unchanged, not processed yet.
• Electricity North West BSP capacity heatmap: 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); heatmap, not a register.
• Electricity North West GSP capacity heatmap: 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); heatmap, not a register.
• ENWL Embedded Capacity Register: 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); processed, not shown yet.
• ENWL Embedded Capacity Register (demand side response): 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); stored unchanged, not processed yet.
• ENWL Embedded Capacity Register (under 1 MW): 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); stored unchanged, not processed yet.
• NESO Existing Agreements Register: 1 file, dated 11 Jun 2026 (1 automatic collection); stored unchanged, not processed yet.
• NESO Transmission Works Report: 4 files, dated 21 Feb 2025 to 16 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection, 3 archived copies (Internet Archive)); stored unchanged, not processed yet.
• Northern Powergrid connection queue: 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); processed, not shown yet.
• Northern Powergrid Embedded Capacity Register: 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); processed, not shown yet.
• Northern Powergrid Embedded Capacity Register (under 1 MW): 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); stored unchanged, not processed yet.
• SPEN Embedded Capacity Register: 1 file, dated 28 Aug 2026 (1 automatic collection); processed, not shown yet.
• SPEN GSP project pipeline: 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); processed, not shown yet.
• UKPN Embedded Capacity Register: 2 files, dated 21 Oct 2026 (2 automatic collections); processed, not shown yet.
• UKPN Embedded Capacity Register (under 1 MW): 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); stored unchanged, not processed yet.
• UKPN GSP status: 1 file, dated 21 Oct 2026 (1 automatic collection); stored unchanged, not processed yet.

Planned collection

What N84 intends to collect, and how often. This is a plan, not the record: until a register appears in the table above with automatic collections, it is not collected on this schedule.

• NESO TEC Register, Embedded Register and Interconnector Register: each new edition. NESO's dataset pages say "Twice weekly". Until automatic collection through NESO's open data API is switched on, editions are downloaded by hand from NESO's page and uploaded unchanged.
• NESO Transmission Works Report (about twice weekly) and the Existing Agreements Register (weekly).
• Embedded Capacity Registers from the six distribution network operators, covering the 14 GB licence areas, monthly: SSEN Distribution and NGED from their open data portals; SP Energy Networks, Northern Powergrid, UK Power Networks and Electricity North West through their documented open data APIs with a registered key. Electricity North West's GSP and BSP capacity heatmaps too.
• The DESNZ Renewable Energy Planning Database (quarterly).

Personal data in embedded capacity registers (names, addresses, postcodes, meter numbers) is removed before anything is stored.

How often

Each source is checked at most once a day, and a file is fetched only when it has changed. Files that cannot be fetched automatically are downloaded by hand from the publisher's page and uploaded unchanged. Our bot and its rate are described on the archive bot page.

Receipts and dates

Every figure names its source file and the file's own date (the date the publisher printed on it, usually in the file name), and the date we obtained it. Each file is stored once, identified by its SHA-256 fingerprint; if the same file is seen again, only the new sighting is recorded.

Provenance labels:

• Automatic: fetched by our bot from the publisher.
• Manual: downloaded by hand from the publisher's page and uploaded unchanged.
• Archived copy: an earlier edition retrieved from the Internet Archive (web.archive.org). Never used for alerts.
• Publisher back-catalogue: an earlier edition the publisher still offers for download. Never used for alerts.

NESO keeps only the current file. Dated web addresses for older NESO editions return today's file, so we never treat them as history.

Queue movers

Two consecutive TEC Register files N84 holds are matched on Project Number. A row is "new on the register" when its Project Number is not in the earlier file and not in any earlier file N84 holds. A row is "back on the register" when it is absent from the previous file N84 holds but was printed in an earlier one, and is printed again in this one. The register does not say why a row was absent. A row is "removed from the register" when it is not in the later file. A connection date change is a change in "MW Effective From"; days are counted between the two printed dates. Capacity is "Cumulative Total Capacity (MW)"; differences under 0.1 MW are ignored. Project Status, Stage and Gate are compared as printed. We report what the files print and never why a value changed.

The net change, calculated by N84, adds the capacity of new rows and capacity increases, and takes away the capacity of removed rows and capacity decreases. Capacity back on the register is shown on its own, never in the net change.

When two consecutive files N84 holds are more than twice the register's usual publishing interval apart (NESO TEC Register: over 28 days; NESO Embedded Register: over 28 days; NESO Interconnector Register: over 28 days; SSEN Embedded Capacity Register: over 62 days; NGED Embedded Capacity Register: over 62 days), a change between them is a wide comparison: it happened at some point in that time. Wide changes stay on project pages and in the full changes list, with that note, and are left out of weekly counts and "recent change" sorts.

The TEC Register has no data-centre category and N84 does not label any register row a data centre. Rows whose Plant Type includes "Demand" are counted only as demand (import) capacity; most are storage or generation sites. The data-centre pipeline table is researched by N84 from public planning records, operator statements and press: each entry has its sources, a confidence grade (A to D), the basis of its MW figure and the date it was checked, and fields inferred by N84 are marked "estimated".

"Connection date added" means MW Effective From was blank in the earlier file and printed in the later one; "removed" is the reverse.

Queue order and MW ahead in N84's order (calculated by N84)

At each connection site, entries that are contracted and not yet connected are put in order by method n84_order_v2. Order calculated by N84: printed queue position where the register gives one; otherwise entries printed as Gate 2 first, then every other entry by connection date. The register prints no gate for many contracted entries; N84 does not guess their position. Not published by the operator.

Within each group, entries are ordered by the connection date printed (MW Effective From), then the accepted date as printed, then the reference. Entries printed as Gate 1 and entries with no gate printed are ordered together. "MW ahead in N84's order" is the total MW of the entries before a given entry in that order. Neither the order nor the MW ahead is published by the operator: both are calculated by N84 from the rows as printed, and are shown with a dotted underline and the tag "calculated by N84". The API field keeps the name mw_ahead and carries method "n84_order_v2".

Until 22 October 2026 the order was method n84_order_v1, which put every Gate 1 entry ahead of every entry with no gate printed.

Date differences (calculated by N84)

For each entry N84 keeps the date printed in the first file it holds ("first in a file N84 holds") and the date printed in the latest file. The difference in days is calculated by N84. It records that the printed date moved between two files; it does not say why.

Attribution and licences

NESO data: Supported by National Energy SO Open Data (NESO Open Data Licence v1.0). SSEN data: Contains data from SSEN Distribution, licensed under CC BY 4.0. NGED data: Supported by NGED Open Data. Electricity North West data: Contains data from Electricity North West Ltd, licensed under CC BY 4.0. REPD: Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. We do not imply that any publisher endorses N84.

Data as published by NESO on the stated date. N84 may contain matching or processing errors. Not investment, legal or technical advice. The official register prevails.

Corrections

If a figure here does not match the publisher's file, email corrections@n84.dev with the page and the file date. We reply within 5 working days. Where the publisher's file is wrong we link to it; where we are wrong we fix it and log the correction.