Value chain · CLM-0213
In plain terms
The study assumes that connecting a ground receiving site to the electricity grid costs about GBP 150,000 for every megawatt of power the site handles.
The claim as recorded
A 2025 UK-government-commissioned feasibility study assumes the cost of grid connection equipment ("site grid infrastructure") at a rectenna site scales linearly with constellation power output at GBP 0.15 million per MW (2024 prices), giving an estimated total cost per constellation of GBP 18.6 million in 2030, GBP 25.5 million in 2035, and GBP 31.2 million in 2040.
Scope and limits
This is a planning-level cost ASSUMPTION for a specific UK small-scale reference design (based on CASSIOPeiA/Space Solar), not a quoted, tendered, or achieved grid-connection cost, and not necessarily representative of grid-connection costs outside Great Britain.
What it assumes
Linear scaling of grid-connection cost with power output holds across the 52 MW to several-hundred-MW range modelled; no step-change costs (e.g. new substation build) are triggered within that range.
Where it comes from
p.70: "Site grid infrastructure is the cost of the electricity plant and grid connection equipment required at the rectenna. The cost of site grid infrastructure scales with the power output of the constellation. In 2024 prices, the cost is assumed to be £0.15 million per MW. The total cost per constellation is estimated as follows: 2030 - £18.6 million. 2035 - £25.5 million. 2040 - £31.2 million." Confirmed verbatim against the PDF text layer.
Basis: 2024 GBP, per MW of constellation power output, small-scale SBSP economic model
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-002 not published in this release
- Contradicts
- CLM-0781 not published in this releaseCLM-0784 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0213
CLM-0213, Energy Aperture, as of 2025.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-076
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