Who is the DNO?
The Distribution Network Operator is the company that owns and maintains the electricity cables in your area. There are six in Great Britain, including UK Power Networks, SSEN, Northern Powergrid, National Grid Electricity Distribution (formerly WPD), Electricity North West, and Scottish Power Energy Networks.
Why do you need to apply?
Adding solar, batteries, EV chargers, or heat pumps changes how power flows on the local grid. The DNO needs to know so they can check the network can safely handle it. For small single phase systems this is a notification (G98). For anything larger or three phase it's a full application (G99).
What does the DNO actually do?
They run studies on the local network to check voltage, fault levels, and thermal capacity. If everything's fine, they approve. If not, they may impose an export limit or request a network upgrade.
How long does it take?
G98 notifications are usually acknowledged quickly. G99 applications take longer and the timing varies by DNO, system size, and current backlog, so we won't quote a fixed number of days. See our how long does it take article for what actually affects timing.