The UK must streamline the process of connecting to its power grid if it is to meet its net zero targets, according to a new report from energy firm Octopus.

It proposes a series of measures that could help new clean energy projects connect to the grid faster, and says that the current situation is hampering providers.

Octopus first raised its concerns in a paper entitled End the Gridlock, published a year ago. Now, a year on, it has released an update that says grid constraints have become “a matter of national importance” for the UK.

But while it said it has witnessed “real momentum for change,” with “network companies, industry, regulator and government are all working at pace on actions to resolve this crisis,” the company warned: “Without quick action, customers won’t be able to benefit from the cheaper, cleaner, more secure power that renewables and other Net Zero technologies can provide.”

Since the original paper was published, the UK government announced a £960 million ($1.1bn) plan to reform the country’s power network, which it said will help new power lines be built faster and release up to 100GW of additional capacity.

But the new Octopus Energy report said: “As we await the outcome from industry initiatives, the queue to connect to the system has grown from >200GW to >700GW, meaning timelines to connect are climbing higher.

“It’s crucial now that we translate industry commitments and political intent into real traction through actions that deliver tangible wins for projects on the front line of this crisis.”

The report suggestsd four priority areas for action: open-sourcing the connections process, connecting the highest quality projects first, enabling wider industry collaboration, and expanding upon existing network capacity.

Octopus Energy, which specializes in renewables, is one of the largest consumer power companies in the UK. In January it was reported that it was considering building its own pylons to help supplement capacity on the national grid.

Like many other parts of the world, the UK is facing a power crunch as demand on the grid rockets. Data centers are a big contributing factor to this and, in March, the CEO of the UK National Grid, John Pettigrew, told a conference he expects “demand from commercial data centers will increase six-fold” over the next decade.