Power network operator PJM has raised concerns that many renewable energy projects in its US region are not being built despite receiving approval to connect to the grid.

The operator said 450 projects promising 37.2GW in capacity have agreed interconnection deals but are not yet online.

While many of these are under construction, 12.1GW of the total is considered “suspended,” meaning interconnection work is not underway.

PJM manages the power grid across 13 states, including the data center hotspots of Virginia and Ohio.

The figures were revealed in a presentation to the company’s markets and reliability committee first reported by Utility Dive.

According to the publication, John McGlynn, Paul McGlynn, PJM vice president of planning told the meeting that the amount of new power coming online in the region is “nowhere near where we need to be,” and said the company is worried about the volume of projects clearing interconnection studies but not being built.

Less than 2GW of new power came online in the PJM connection area of the US in the first half of the year, according to a presentation made at the meeting. This means it is likely less new power will be added to the grid this year than in 2023, when more than 5GW was made available.

Jason Shoemaker, PJM’s senior manager for interconnection projects, said that almost all the new energy his company added in the first half of year was solar, alongside a small amount of wind power.

PJM said in January it expects grid load on its network to increase 40 percent over the next 15 years.

News of many stalled projects in the PJM comes despite the fact that lengthy interconnection delays are often cited as a bottleneck to the development of new power projects. In April a report from the Department of Energy said the length of the interconnection queue had grown 27 percent in 2023.